Soccer
Soccer’s richest game returns to London’s Wembley Stadium on Saturday, with Sheffield United and Sunderland facing off in the Championship promotion playoff final.
The match will decide who will become the third and final promoted team to compete in next season’s edition of the Premier League, joining Leeds United and Burnley after they booked direct passageway to England’s top flight after respective first and second place finishes in the Championship. Awaiting them is not only the glamor of competing in England’s top flight, but also the lucrative prize of nearly $300 million that goes hand-in-hand with the prestige.
United and Sunderland meet at Wembley to complete contrasting journeys to the Premier League. The former only dropped down to the Championship a year ago and target a quick trip back to the top flight, while the latter hope to end an eight year wait to play in the Premier League, a wait that included several seasons in League One.
The Championship final is the first of three promotion playoffs at Wembley Stadium this weekend, with Charlton facing Leyton Orient on Sunday in the League One final (8:01 a.m. ET, Paramount+) and Wimbledon taking on Walsall in the League Two equivalent on Monday (10:01 a.m., Paramount+).
Here’s what you need to know before tuning in.
Soccer How to watch the Championship promotion playoff final
- Date: Saturday, May 24 | Time: 10:01 a.m. ET
- Location: Wembley Stadium — London, England
- Live stream: Paramount+
- Odds: Sheffield United +135; Draw +200; Sunderland +230
Soccer Why is this soccer’s richest game?
One-off games with significant prize money on the line are not unique to sports, but the Championship promotion playoff tops a short list of matches where one game is the difference between a huge payday and going home empty-handed. By winning a spot in the Premier League, either Sheffield United or Sunderland will pocket at least $295 million simply for participating in England’s top flight next season.
It is a great departure from the payments guaranteed to Championship sides, which have been as high as $65 million in recent years for “first year” relegated sides. The winner of Saturday’s final, though, will benefit from the Premier League’s new domestic broadcast deal, which begins next season. Their participation fee will grow from roughly $228 million to the $295 million they will earn – and that’s before factoring in their eventual end-of-season finish and the extra money that could come with it.
Soccer Sheffield United’s path to the final
Last time in Premier League: 2023-24
Total Premier League seasons: 6
Sheffield United may have missed out on automatic promotion by 10 points but their strategy to stick with the group that took part in their last Premier League season has been a successful one so far. They finished in third place with 90 points, 14 points better than fourth place Sunderland and may be the best team to have taken part in the promotion playoffs. They cruised through the semifinals with a 6-0 aggregate win over Bristol City, with Callum O’Hare scoring twice during the two-legged series.
Soccer Sunderland’s path to the final
Last time in Premier League: 2016-17
Total Premier League seasons: 15
Sunderland are on the cusp of their first season in the Premier League in eight years, which would be an incredible reward for their winding journey back to England’s top flight. They followed up their 2016-17 relegation from the Premier League with a second successive relegation, spending four seasons in League One after the fact. Their rise has been fairly steady – in the three years since returning to the Championship, this is the second time they have competed in the promotion playoffs but the first in which they have gotten to the final. Their semifinal victory was a hard-fought one, beating Coventry City 3-2 on aggregate, though not without drama – after going to extra time with Coventry in the second leg, Daniel Ballard scored in the second minute of stoppage time to send the Black Cats to the final.
Read MorePardeep Cattry