How much is Blackpool’s promotion to the Championship worth to the Seasiders?

Neil Critchley’s men sealed their return to the second tier of English football on Sunday with a 2-1 win over Lincoln City in the League One play-off final.

Kenny Dougall was Pool's unlikely hero with both goals, helping the Seasiders recover from a horror start where they conceded after just 48 seconds courtesy of a freak Ollie Turton own goal.

It was Blackpool’s sixth victory in a play-off final in the club’s history, confirming their status as the country’s play-off kings.

Rising up to the Championship means Blackpool’s ‘guaranteed income’ will now increase - and by some margin, too.

Reaching the second tier will see the club's Premiership Solidarity payments, which are distributed to all EFL clubs from the top flight, rise from £675,000 per year to £4.5m.

The split between EFL teams is 80 per cent to clubs in the Championship, 12 per cent to clubs in League One and eight per cent to clubs in League Two.

This figure will also be boosted by a rise in the broadcast and commercial contracts, with an uplift of £891,000 for a League One club to £2.99m for a Championship club.

That means that Blackpool will pocket around £7.5m for plying their trade in the Championship, as opposed to £1.5m in League One.

The Seasiders will also benefit from the larger away followings as well as the commercial and sponsorship opportunities that will arise from playing in the Championship.

It must be noted, however, that the overall ‘guaranteed income’ figure could be slightly lower this coming year due to the rebate agreed by Premier League clubs, which came as a result of the crippling financial impact of the pandemic.

Wages also sky-rocket in the second tier, with clubs splashing the cash in a bid to reach the ‘glory land’ of the Premier League.

During the 2019/20 season, the date of Blackpool's latest accounts, the club's average wage was just over £3,000 a week.

This compares to an average of £15,000 a week for the Championship during the same season.

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