While the gap between the Premier League and the Championship gets the most attention, there’s something to be said for the divide in League One prize money and the cash on offer in the second tier.
It wouldn’t be excessive to say that achieving promotion from League One will completely change the outlook of a club, bringing in a guaranteed pay day of more than five times the amount accrued in the third tier.
Still, thanks to Premier League solidarity payments and the way that EFL TV revenue is divided up, League One prize money sums still amount to seven figures for each club these days.
How Much League One Prize Money Does the Winner Get?
The winner gets around £2 million in League One prize money as well as a relatively small merit payment and whatever facility fees have been accrued as the biggest draw in the division en route to taking the title.
Merit payments and facility fees are estimated to be almost negligible by comparison to the broadcast and solidarity payment-powered basic award of £2 million to each club.
Even so, given the average salaries in League One, anything extra will help to balance the books for a club looking to push the boundaries and achieve promotion to the second tier.
The greatest gain for the league winners, runners-up, and Play-off winners is the bump in revenue from the Championship compared to League One prize money.
As a guaranteed sum to all clubs, a promoted team can stand to jump up from around £2 million per season to £11 million, which is a huge increase for any team that can capitalise on their favourable football odds to go up.
What is the Sum of League One Prize Money that Play-off Teams Get?
Teams that make it to the Play-offs will already be getting among the larger payouts of League One prize money by virtue of them competing higher and amassing a greater merit payment and likely more in facility fees.
However, doing well in the Play-offs and making it to the Play-off Final can yield what would be a huge payout for the club at this level and massively help to fund the salaries of the highest-paid players in League One.
The League One Play-off Final takes place at Wembley Stadium each year, which has a capacity of 90,000. It’s said that on average, the percentage of gate receipts that finalists receive amounts to between £1 million and £2 million.
As it goes, playing at Wembley Stadium – let alone winning promotion as the third team to go up from the third tier of English football – can add as much as double the League One prize money to the bank.
How Much is League One Prize Money Comprised of Broadcast Revenue?
Much of the total revenue corralled by League One teams comes down to gate receipts. The TV presence of the division is growing, but it still isn’t particularly strong even in comparison to the Championship.
Still, broadcast revenue does make up a chunk of the roughly £2 million paid to each League One team every season. This is a split across all EFL clubs from a pool of £895 million, weighted by league level.
Broadcast revenue is split, but teams get additional facility fees whenever they play host to live TV broadcasts. In the Play-offs, for example, each team will benefit from this in the Semi-finals.
