LONDON, ENGLAND - MAY 27: Luton Town celebrate after the team's victory and promotion to the Premier League in the Sky Bet Championship Play-Off Final between Coventry City and Luton Town at Wembley Stadium on May 27, 2023 in London, England. (Photo by Richard Heathcote/Getty Images)
Southampton’s whole attention is on the play-offs, where a quick return to the Premier League is the reward.
The focus of manager Russell Martin will be on coming up with a strategy to defeat West Brom over two legs in the semi-final. Southampton will play in the Wembley final on Sunday, May 26, if they defeat a team they have won the league double over once more this season. Leeds United and Norwich City, who are ranked third and sixth respectively, will meet in the other semifinal.
Any club that makes it into the Premier League through the play-offs stands to gain enormous financial benefits; the championship game is frequently referred to as the most profitable in sports history.
Southampton will earn huge financial reward if play-off victors
There is far more than just top flight football at stake for Southampton in the play-offs.
If they are unsuccessful and remain in the Championship the club are incredibly likely to have to sell star man Kyle Walker-Peters, whilst their hopes of signing loan duo Flynn Downes and Taylor Harwood-Bellis permanently will be scuppered.
As reported by The Athletic, accounting firm Deloitte Sports Business Group attempted to predict the financial gain associated with winning the Championship play-offs last season.
They predicted that the winner at Wembley would earn an increase in revenue of a minimum of £170 million across the three seasons that followed.
Deloitte believed that the figure could subsequently rise to over £290 million if the club then managed to avoid relegation after their first season in the top flight and estimated that just one season in the Premier League would result in additional revenue of at least £90 million.
Is it promotion or bust for Southampton?
Whilst failure to go up via the play-offs would be deeply disappointing and would likely mean a number of departures, Southampton’s financial future is not thought to be completely reliant on an instant return to England’s top tier.
That is because owners Sport Republic oversaw the sales of a number of players following relegation last summer.
The likes of Romeo Lavia, Tino Livramento and James Ward-Prowse all went for sizeable fees, as the club generated around £157 million whilst spending just shy of £19 million according to Salary Sport.
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