Luton Town vs. Coventry City: Soccer’s ‘richest game’ offers winner. The Championship play-off final on Saturday represents much more to Luton Town and Coventry City than just money, even though it has been labeled soccer’s “richest game.”
In addition to securing a spot in the Premier League for both sides for the upcoming season, the match at Wembley Stadium in London marks a significant leap for two organizations that last faced off in the fourth division of the English football league system just five years ago.
Deloitte’s Sports Business Group estimates that the winner of Saturday’s Championship Play-Off Final will get $211 million (£170 million) over the course of the following three seasons through “projected increases to their own commercial and matchday revenues and secured central Premier League revenues.”
If the club stays out of the relegation zone during its inaugural season, that sum will rise to $360 million (£290 million).
Luton Town vs. Coventry City: Soccer’s ‘richest game’ offers winner
A team’s ascension and potential metamorphosis after a long, arduous season that included 46 league games and two playoff semifinal matches will be decided on Saturday. The losing squad will experience disappointment and dismay.
Luton was one of the clubs that voted to create the Premier League in 1992 after playing in the top division of English football the season before. The season before it debuted, it was demoted.
Kevin Harper, a Luton supporter for more than 35 years and a member of the Luton Town Supporters’ Trust, told CNN Senior Sports Analyst Darren Lewis this week, “That was annoying because we voted for the Premier League to come into existence, but then we got relegated, so we’ve never actually set foot in it, we’ve not tasted any of the financial riches that have come that way, the profile of the Premier League.”
The team fell farther down the English soccer league’s ladder over the course of the following nearly 20 years, experiencing five relegations, three administrations, and being docked a total of 40 points.
The decline was so rapid that Luton played outside the Football League and in the fifth tier of English soccer ten years ago. According to Harper, the club is “on its absolute knees.”
But the team has slowly but surely moved up the league thanks to shrewd acquisitions, successful managers, and a new ownership group.
Welshman Although Nathan Jones successfully guided the squad for two stints, his fellow countryman Rob Edwards brought the team to within 90 minutes of the Premier League’s promised land.
It might come as a bit of a cultural shock to Premier League stars for them to lace up their boots and play at Kenilworth Road in Luton.
The stadium, which was erected in 1905 and had a little over 10,000-person capacity, retains numerous vintage elements, such as wooden stands and an entrance that provides a glimpse into the gardens of the terraced homes that border the stadium. It still stands out in a sport that is constantly evolving.
