How does championship promotion work

A merit system is in place to pair the teams for the semi-finals. Third place plays sixth place in one semi-final and fourth place plays fifth place in the other semi-final. The Championship semi-finals are traditionally two-legged affairs, but the away goals rule does not apply. The semi-final winners progress to the play-off final. Brentford secured their place in the Championship play-offs with three games to spare. The Bees will be joined in the promotion tournament by Bournemouth , Swansea and Barnsley.

Norwich City secured automatic promotion in April, with Watford joining the Canaries a few weeks later with a second-placed finish. The play-off semi-finals began on May 17, with the second legs being played five days later on May Of course, being a part of the Premier League elite means that clubs suddenly find themselves a more attractive proposition for sponsors and they are thus able to compete for more potential revenue streams in that regard as well.

Even a thoroughly unsuccessful campaign in the Premier League will still yield plenty of money for the teams involved. As well as broadcast revenue for competing in the competition, clubs who suffer relegation back to the Championship are given 'Parachute Payments' , which are designed to effectively break the fall into the second tier.

These payments are a percentage of the equal share of broadcast revenue, which gradually drops over a period of three years - from 55 per cent to 45 per cent and, if the club was in the Premier League for more than one season to 20 per cent in the third year.

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