The fight for promotion and even greater amount of fight to avoid relegation is one of the hallmarks of global football. Major Soccer League (MLS) in North America has avoided the subject altogether but things could change for the first time in United States soccer history with the revamped United Soccer League (USL) where its club owners have voted for promotion-relegation to be implemented, similar to the European style. That’s a topic to be discussed later.
For now, in this blog, the focus is on the promotions and relegations in the Premier League.
Promotion and Increase in Revenue
A study of the clubs promoted from EFL Championship in the last ten years gives a trend with as much as 60% (18) of them being relegated within 4 years and 43% (13) of them relegated in the following season itself. Not a very encouraging one, isn’t it?
On the financial front, a promotion to the Premier League is warranted with a hefty increase in broadcast payouts. As Dr Dan Plumley, a sports finance lecturer at Sheffield Hallam University, points out, a rough £120mn for every promotion if the club has not been in the Premier League in the previous three years and have not been receiving parachute payments in which case the jump could be as much as £70mn – £80mn.
The financial windfall is a big reason for the Championship level club who aim big and wish to grow. To illustrate, Luton Town FC has been given a go ahead with its plan to build a new 25,000-capacity stadium in the heart of the town centre. The £100mn+ received from their one-year stay in the Premier League gave them the financial boost to go full scale, as stated by their CEO. On the other hand, the quest for Premier League pot of gold is usually met with heavy losses in the run-up.
Relegation and Parachute Payments
Relegation is not a topic to be revered about but sadly, it’s an unmissable part. Since the Premier League’s formation, there are only six clubs so far who have never been relegated:
- Manchester United
- Chelsea
- Arsenal
- Tottenham
- Liverpool
- Everton
And on the other hand, there are some clubs who have been relegated multiple times which essentially means, they get relegated within the following or a couple of seasons of getting promoted. They are unwittingly known as the yo-yo clubs. The list of these clubs:
- 6 – Norwich City.
- 5 – West Bromwich Albion, Leicester City.
- 4 – Burnley, Middlesbrough, Sheffield United, Sunderland, Watford.
- 3 – Birmingham City, Bolton Wanderers, Crystal Palace, Fulham, Hull City, Nottingham Forest, Queens Park Rangers, Southampton.
With relegation from the Premier League comes a heavy cutback on broadcast income which is somewhat offset by the parachute payments. Parachute payments are paid by the Premier League, from the broadcast income, to relegated clubs to soften the blow and are calculated relative to the equal shares paid to PL clubs:
- Year 1 – 55%.
- Year 2 – 45%.
- Year 3 – 20%.
Although the issue of parachute payments has been a major cause of concern to the English Football League (EFL) which claims they hand a major competitive advantage to relegated teams. Hopefully, the independent football regulator will be able to address the issue once and for all soon enough.
24/25 Promotion
The 24/25 season is yet to get over but we have at least two confirmed clubs getting promoted, Burnley FC and Leeds United FC. Burnley has a previous history of being promoted (and relegated) four times, as given above, while Leeds United have been promoted and relegated twice. For both the clubs, promotion secured now has an ambitious meaning. Leeds United has even put forward plans to boost the capacity at their Elland Road ground to 56,500 which would make them the seventh largest stadium in Premier League.
An overview about the promoted clubs:
- Both the clubs have American ownership which would take the total US-origin ownerships to over 12 in the 25/26 season.
- Both the clubs also are a part of the multi-club ownership (MCO) networked football clubs.
- Leeds United has a backer in the form of Red Bull, who became a minority owner 2024 and also became their front-of-shirt sponsor.
It will be interesting to see their impact on-field in the 25/26 season.
In Conclusion
Promotions to the top tier football is a goal for every club playing in the second tier and below. Not only does it come with a host of benefits for the club/ team but also brings a reputation to the city as well. We have seen some incredible success stories in years across multiple leagues like Luton Town, Ipswich Town, St. Pauli in the German Bundesliga, Como in Serie A and so on.
This is what makes European football the most engaging and inclusive.
