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Sheffield United and Sunderland will meet in the Championship play-off final and every Premier League club has a vested interest in the fixture.
Sunderland and Sheffield United will go head-to-head at 3:01pm on Saturday, May 24, in one of the biggest games in England.
The two outfits are competing for a spot in the Premier League, where they will join Burnley and Leeds United.
How much money clubs get for winning the Championship play-offs is quite astounding, but it’s not just Sheffield United and Sunderland that could benefit this weekend.
Premier League clubs will want Sheffield United to beat Sunderland
Sunderland have not been in the top flight of English football since 2017, when they were relegated alongside North East rivals, Middlesbrough.
The Blades, however, were in the Premier League during the 2023/24 season.
As a result, Chris Wilder’s side are in receipt of parachute payments, just like Leeds (relegated in 2022/23) and Burnley (also relegated last season) were.
However, as finance journalist Kieran Maguire has now explained, if Sheffield United win the play-offs, Premier League clubs will get back as much as £146m because parachute payments will no longer be owed.
He wrote on X/Twitter: “It won’t just be the fans of Sunderland and Sheffield United with an interest in the Championship Playoff final today, Premier League clubs have a vested interest too. Under Premier League rules, clubs are entitled to three years of Parachute Payments when they are relegated to the Championship, although this is restricted to two years if they had previously been promoted and were immediately relegated.
“The parachute payments are calculated as being 55%, 45% and 20% respectively of the equal share elements of the Premier League distribution to its member clubs. This works out as £48m, £39m and £17m for the relegated clubs over a three year period. If a relegated club is then immediately promoted, then the parachute payments it was due to receive are retained by the Premier League and given to its own clubs.
“Burnley and Leeds United have already been promoted to the Premier League which saves the Premier League £39m and £17m in 2025/26. If Sheffield United are promoted in the playoffs at the weekend this will be a further £39m.
“This could result in a total of £95 million coming back to the Premier League. Leicester, Ipswich and Southampton were relegated in 2024/25 having been promoted the previous season. This means that the Premier League will definitely not have to pay parachute payments in the third year, resulting in a further benefit to Premier League clubs of £51 million (3 x £17m).
“This could take the parachute payments benefit to existing PL clubs to £146 million. It’s the most valuable match in world football not just for the two clubs competing at Wembley, who can be £190m better off for winning.”
Sheffield United backed to beat Sunderland
The Yorkshire outfit ended the regular season in third place with 90 points.
Regis Le Bris’ men were only one spot behind, though they did earn 14 fewer points.
As a result, it’s not surprising to see Sheffield United as favourites to beat Sunderland on Saturday, according to one supercomputer.