Fixtures, dates, prize money & more

The Championship play-offs offer end-of-season excitement for fans across England, with four teams battling it out to see who can secure the ultimate prize of promotion to the Premier League. With the winner getting the opportunity to play against some of the biggest clubs in the world, as well as seeing a huge increase in revenue thanks to the lucrative TV deals on offer, it is the sweetest way to end a long and arduous campaign.

The 2023/24 Championship campaign is starting to heat up, with a whole host of teams still in with a chance of reaching the play-offs, while the automatic promotion picture is far from certain.

Nevertheless, with weeks flying by and points being picked up left, right and centre, Football FanCast has taken a look ahead at the details concerning the upcoming 2024 EFL Championship play-offs.

How the Championship play-offs work

The Championship play-offs consist of two semi-finals; the team who finish in third play the team finishing in sixth, while the team finishing in fourth plays the team who finished fifth.

One team advances from each semi-final tie, which is settled over two legs home and away, with the team leading on aggregate after 180 minutes of football (or more) advancing to the final. The team who finished lower will be at home for the first leg, whilst the team who finished higher will be at home for the deciding return leg.

Should there be a tie in scoring after 180 minutes of football, the match will be settled via extra time and possibly even penalties if the score is still level following an additional 30 minutes.

Whoever comes out on top in both ties will then meet at Wembley Stadium to do battle for the Championship play-offs trophy and promotion to the Premier League. Extra time and penalties are required if both teams are tied at the end of 90 minutes, with the losing team staying in the Championship.

Current EFL Championship standings

Four teams will make it into the Championship play-offs for the 2023/24 season, and things are starting to heat up.

At the time of writing, Ipswich Town and Leicester City occupy the automatic promotion places. Despite opportunities to pick up three points, Leeds United are now playing catch-up in third position, though they still have a good chance, as just a point separates them. And, Southampton are making a late charge for the automatic promotion places, but their slip-up against Cardiff City has massively hampered their chances.

In terms of the play-offs, Middlesbrough, Coventry City and Hull City are still all in with a chance of catching Norwich in sixth, though the power is very much in the hands of the Canaries.

Related

Championship Table – Latest EFL standings for 2023/2024 season

Latest English Football League Championship standings 2023/2024.

2024 Championship play-off dates

The 2023/24 Championship play-offs will be held in May 2024, once the regular season has come to an end. The regular season is due to finish on 4th May, with the play-offs ordinarily taking place in the subsequent week, with the return legs being held a few days later.

The semi-final dates have now officially been announced and are as follows:

It has already been announced that the 2023/24 Championship play-off final will take place on 26th May. The kick-off time in the 2022/23 Championship play-off final was 4:45 pm, but nothing has been confirmed yet for this year.

The play-off final is part of a busy summer programme for the national stadium, with Wembley also hosting the Champions League final on 1st June.

Where to watch the 2024 Championship play-offs on UK TV and live-stream

The Championship play-offs will be broadcast live on Sky Sports, as well as Sky Go if you’re looking for online streaming.

However, if you’re based in the US, Championship play-off games are available to watch and stream live on ESPN+ and the ESPN network.

How and where to buy Championship play-off semi-final tickets

Official information on tickets is expected to be released towards the end of April, once the participating teams have been determined. With plans and announcements coming from the club’s official website and social media accounts.

If it’s anything like last season, Luton Town released their ticket information on 27th April 2023.

The way Luton structured the home ticket windows is very similar to how most clubs operate nowadays, with season ticket holders getting first dibs to secure their own seats for the game. At a later date, a further sales plan was announced for Members and then General Sale tickets. Away tickets were also distributed in an similar manner.

There is the possibility of buying tickets on reselling sites, but there’s no guarantee that these are official and the price will be substantially more than the general sale price from clubs.

How and where to buy Championship play-off final tickets

As many fans will know, any kind of major final involves a lot of corporate tickets being handed out, which unfortunately reduces the allocation for both clubs competing in the final.

Last year, Luton were allocated 36,493 tickets for the East End of Wembley Stadium. Meanwhile, Coventry were allocated 36,237.

Of course, ticket information will be released once the clubs in the final are known, but due to the large volume of tickets needed to be sold and dispatched in such a short space of time, and following advice from the EFL, Luton used Ticketmaster to sell play-off final tickets last year, so clubs this year may follow suit after it proved a success.

Similar to the semi-finals, there were three windows that Luton opted for:

How much the Championship play-off final is worth

Often referred to as ‘the richest game in football’, the play-off final is worth huge amounts of money for the winner as they get the chance to progress to one of the biggest and best leagues in the world.

Prior to the 2020 Championship play-off final, Deloitte reported that the winners of the Championship play-offs could earn prize money of anywhere between £135m and £265m, depending on whether or not they could avoid immediate relegation from the Premier League.

How Premier League prize money works

About £2.2m is awarded to each spot in the table, with clubs earning additional funds through other revenue streams like sponsorships. A significant portion of these add-ons are derived from getting a piece of the broadcast pot, which is growing yearly.

To explain further, the broadcast pot depends on how many live TV games a club is involved in, so the likes of Manchester City, Arsenal and Liverpool this year will likely receive more than others, simply because the title race has resulted in most of the games involving these sides being picked for TV selection.

A Premier League club is way more attractive to sponsors than a club in the Championship, so there may be the opportunity to earn additional revenue from this.

Parachute Payments explained

The Premier League implemented parachute payments during the 2006–07 season in an effort to lessen the financial hardship that a relegated side could experience upon being demoted to the Championship.

The Premier League pays relegated clubs in the English Football League in a structured manner over the course of the seasons following relegation. During their first season in the Championship, a club receives 55% of what they would receive under the Premier League’s basic TV money deal for each club. They then earn 45% in the second year after relegation. In the third year, they will additionally receive 20% if the team was in the Premier League for more than one season before being relegated.

Last year’s Championship play-off final

Following the conclusion of the 2022/23 Championship regular season, Luton Town, Coventry City, Middlesbrough and Sunderland battled it out for a place in the Premier League.

Luton ended up coming back from a first-leg deficit to book their place in the Championship play-off final with a 3-2 aggregate win over Sunderland. Meanwhile, Coventry earned their place in the final with a narrow 1-0 aggregate win over Boro.

And the final didn’t disappoint as a packed Wembley Stadium laid witness to a 6-5 penalty shootout win for Luton after both sides were stuck at 1-1 at the end of normal and extra time.