Football finance expert reveals staggering fee Sunderland would bank by earning Premier League promotion

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Sunderland are three games away from earning Premier League status once again, and they would earn an astronomical fee if they are victorious in the upcoming Championship play-offs.

Sunderland ended the 2024/25 Championship final day in fourth-place, having occupied that spot in the second tier table for several weeks, and will now face Coventry City in the play-offs semi-finals.

The Black Cats were relegated from the Premier League for the first time in ten years at the end of the 2016/17 season after finishing 20th.

Chronicled by the infamous ‘Sunderland til I die’ Netflix documentary, the club would suffer back-to-back relegations following their disastrous 2017/18 Championship season, condemning them to League One.

Third tier play-offs glory under Alex Neil saw the Black Cats return to the Championship. Now, with Regis Le Bris at the helm, Sunderland are in contention for a return to the top flight this season, which would bank the club an astronomical fee following promotion and Championship play-offs victory.

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Sunderland will bank staggering fee if they earn Premier League promotion via play-offs

Sunderland will take on Frank Lampard’s Coventry in the upcoming play-off semi-finals. If they beat the Sky Blues, Le Bris’ Black Cats will face the winners of Sheffield United and Bristol City of the concurrent semi-final, under the Wembley arches later this month in the play-off final.

Premier League status is what all Sunderland fans dream of returning to Wearside. In the Stadium of Light boardroom, that desire is felt just as much by owner Kyril Louis-Dreyfus, with the financial riches on offer in modern-day football for top flight sides.

With a long-awaited Premier League return on the cards for Sunderland, EFL Analysis’ football finance expert Adam Williams revealed how much the Black Cats would stand to earn with play-offs success.

Firstly, on how Sunderland stabilised themselves in the second tier, Williams explained: “Under the current ownership, I think Sunderland are one of the better run teams in the Championship.

“They’ve done a good job at building sustainably, which means they would have far more flexibility as far as PSR is concerned than Leeds United, for example.

“It’s been a slow burn and I understand why some fans have been a little frustrated about having a more modest wages-to-turnover ratio than many in the Championship, but they’ve made up for that by recruiting really well, both in terms of players and staff.

“If they don’t go up via the play-offs this year, my instinct is that they have built a platform to push the envelope and go for automatic promotion next season. They’ve got the commercial and matchday revenues to sustain that while remaining within PSR.”

Looking ahead to potential Premier League promotion, if they can successfully navigate the post-season campaign and turn the tide on the Black Cats’ worrying play-offs record, Sunderland stand to bank an astronomical fee if Le Bris’ side are victors in this month’s Wembley showpiece.

Williams continued: “As far as the Premier League is concerned, you’re looking at £110m in media income for a single season. That’s at the low end of the spectrum.

“Each place in the Premier League is worth an extra £3m, so if you have a half-decent season then it shows on the balance sheet.

“For a club like Sunderland, you’re going to see a boom in commercial and matchday income too. They earned nearly £16m in matchday income as far back as 2013-14, which was a record for the club.

“Get promoted this time, and I think they beat that very comfortably. There are fewer matches in the Premier League but what you lose in volume you make up for in being able to charge premium prices and sell-outs.

“Given that they have already increased ticket prices by about 10% for next season, I think they could do £20m there. You’d see a big increase commercially too, probably triple what they do now, so £20m again.

“Add all that together and you’re at £150m. With parachute payments as insurance, that goes to around £240m all-told.”

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Sunderland’s last Premier League starting XI compared to Sunderland starting XI vs QPR

Times have changed for the better on Wearside since the heartbreaking demotion from the top flight.

Under owner Louis-Dreyfus, and sporting director Kristjaan Speakman, the Black Cats have become recognised amongst the English Football League for their youth-first football philosophy.

Jobe Bellingham and Chris Rigg scooped EFL awards for their respective campaigns, and many fellow Sunderland stars are on the radar of elite clubs.

Contrasting their last Premier League line-up, boding journeymen such as Jack Rodwell and veterans such as John O’Shea and Joleon Lescott, it highlights how fortunes have turned around for the better at Sunderland.

Their revival from dwindling in the third tier to potential Premier League promotion is down, in no small part, to the Black Cats’ excellent recruitment over recent seasons.