Championship play-off final prize money
Winning the final pays no prize of its own. What it pays is a season in the Premier League: Southampton won the 2024 final, finished 20th, and were still paid £109,200,000 in 2024/25. A Championship club with no parachute was paid £5,340,000 that season.
Every figure here is a payment the Premier League made to a named club, from the table set out in full on Premier League prize money, and the parachute rates worked from it.
What a club was paid in 2024/25, by where it played
Southampton finished bottom of the Premier League and were paid 20.4 times what a Championship club with no parachute received
The parachute rows are paid to a club relegated from the Premier League, falling each season it stays down, and the last three rows are the solidarity payment to every club below the Premier League that is not drawing one. All of it comes out of the same Premier League money: see Championship parachute payments for every season of it.
What every play-off winner was paid
Its first season in the Premier League, from the final it won
| FINAL | WINNER | BEAT | FINISHED | PAID | THEN |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 |  | Leeds United | 20th in 2024/25 | £109,200,000 | Relegated |
| 2023 |  | Coventry City | 18th in 2023/24 | £115,400,000 | Relegated |
| 2022 |  | Huddersfield Town | 16th in 2022/23 | £118,570,832 | Stayed up |
| 2021 |  | Swansea City | 13th in 2021/22 | £118,350,576 | Stayed up |
| 2020 |  | Brentford | 18th in 2020/21 | £105,353,711 | Relegated |
| 2018 | | Aston Villa | 19th in 2018/19 | £101,904,692 | Relegated |
Four of the six went straight back down and two stayed up: Nottingham Forest in 2022/23 and Brentford in 2021/22. The other four finals since 2017 were won by Hull City (2026), Sunderland (2025), Aston Villa (2019) and Huddersfield Town (2017), and we hold no Premier League payments for the seasons that followed them.
Champions, runners-up and the play-off winner
The three clubs promoted each season, and what the Premier League paid each of them
| CLUB | WENT UP AS | SEASON | FINISHED | PAID |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Champions | 2024/25 | 18th | £116,900,000 |
 | Runners-up | 2024/25 | 19th | £111,100,000 |
| | Play-off final | 2024/25 | 20th | £109,200,000 |
 | Champions | 2023/24 | 19th | £110,100,000 |
 | Runners-up | 2023/24 | 20th | £109,700,000 |
| | Play-off final | 2023/24 | 18th | £115,400,000 |
| | Champions | 2022/23 | 10th | £138,090,547 |
 | Runners-up | 2022/23 | 15th | £117,490,479 |
| | Play-off final | 2022/23 | 16th | £118,570,832 |
 | Champions | 2021/22 | 20th | £100,598,810 |
 | Runners-up | 2021/22 | 19th | £102,656,030 |
| | Play-off final | 2021/22 | 13th | £118,350,576 |
 | Champions | 2020/21 | 9th | £132,637,040 |
 | Runners-up | 2020/21 | 19th | £99,720,837 |
| | Play-off final | 2020/21 | 18th | £105,353,711 |
 | Champions | 2018/19 | 7th | £127,165,114 |
 | Runners-up | 2018/19 | 18th | £102,704,107 |
| | Play-off final | 2018/19 | 19th | £101,904,692 |
The route up changes nothing about the money. All three are paid the same equal share, and the rest follows where each finishes and how many of its matches are shown live. In two of the six seasons the play-off winner was paid more than the champions it went up with: Luton Town in 2023/24 and Brentford in 2021/22.
What the season after pays
Where a play-off winner ends up a year later, at the 2024/25 rates
Southampton in 2024/25, Luton Town in 2023/24, Fulham in 2020/21 and Fulham in 2018/19 each went down after one season, so none of them could draw the third band. Fulham came straight back up both times, which stopped the payment after its first season.
Frequently asked questions
How much prize money does the Championship play-off final winner get?
None for the final itself. The money is the Premier League season it wins: Southampton, who won the 2024 final, were paid £109,200,000 by the Premier League in 2024/25.
What does the losing play-off finalist get?
No prize. By convention the winning club lets the losing club keep the gate receipts from the final at Wembley.
How much does a club promoted through the play-offs earn in the Premier League?
Across the six seasons we hold, the least a play-off winner was paid was Fulham's £101,904,692 in 2018/19, and the most was Nottingham Forest's £118,570,832 in 2022/23, when they finished 16th.
Is a play-off winner paid less than the champions?
Not for how it went up. All three promoted clubs are paid the same equal share, and the rest depends on where they finish and how often they are on television. In 2023/24 Luton Town were paid £115,400,000 against £110,100,000 for the champions, Burnley.
What does a play-off winner get if it goes straight back down?
Two parachute payments at most: £48,950,000 in its first season back in the Championship and £40,050,000 in its second, at the 2024/25 rate, and the payment stops the moment it is promoted again. The third, £17,800,000, is paid only to a club that had spent more than one season in the Premier League.
Who won the last Championship play-off final?
Hull City beat Middlesbrough in 2026. The year before, Sunderland beat Sheffield United.
Where to next
The rest of the money a club plays for
Every club's payments season by season are on Premier League prize money, and what a relegated club is paid on the way back down is on Championship parachute payments. For the cups, see DFB-Pokal prize money, FA Cup prize money, Carabao Cup prize money, FA Trophy prize money and FA Vase prize money, and in Europe Champions League prize money, Club World Cup prize money, Europa League prize money and Conference League prize money. Or see what Championship clubs pay their squads and what Premier League clubs pay theirs.