There have been fewer days as joyful in the county of Lincoln as the time the club won League One promotion to the Championship. At the end of the 2026 season, Michael Skubala and the Imps paraded through the town on an open-top bus, as the streets turned red around them. Next season, the club will play teams like West Ham and Wolves, who have recently been relegated from the top flight. With this comes a huge financial boost.
The Money Given to EFL Clubs
For taking part in League One, Lincoln City will have gained a profit of around £2 million. This would have dropped to around £1.5 had they been relegated. A basic award amount and solidarity payments from the Premier League are included in this.
By playing in the Championship, this rises somewhat. In the previous season, clubs have been given around £11 million. Also made of basic award amounts and solidarity payments, teams relegated from above get around half of this. However, they do benefit from substantial parachute payments.
Any broadcasting rights are included in the basic award payment. EFL clubs get a split of £187m for their games to be shown on television and other media platforms.
Alternative Income Streams
This is not to say that other means of making money, through licensing and sponsorship, will not bring additional value. The gambling and iGaming sector is increasingly looking at sport, with niche intellectual property a key driver. Games such as Goal Goal Goal Roulette and Football Cash Collect lean heavily on soccer.
Online casino slots such as the Sporting Legends series have allowed income for retired sports stars like Frankie Dettori and Brian Lara. Yet with more leagues like the NBA and NFL turning to them as revenue streams, the more grassroots outlook of the Championship could be a more attractive proposition than the shiny EPL.
The knock-on impact of playing bigger teams will hopefully increase gate receipts too. When Lincoln City can manage to pull in 9,054, then the club’s gate receipts are worth around £226k. If they can fill the LNER Stadium to capacity, there are 10,669 seats available, which would make a huge difference.
The Pull of the Premier League
Behind all this, however, is the pull of the Premier League. Just one division up, it’s where money gets serious. Winning a Championship playoff final alone next season would net around £200m, give or take, with receipts from the Wembley gate hitting £2m.
In 2024-25, a new broadcasting deal was reached, which was worth £6.7bn over four seasons. Each Premier League club gained around £83.75m from this.
Of course, all of this is slightly speculative. Figures are never released exactly, and myriad factors are involved. Teams may have bigger followings than others, and some teams, like Wrexham, may have celebrity appeal that can be leveraged for additional income.
Added to this is the value this brings to Lincoln itself. Already a tourist town, its match days should now bring even more away supporters. This boosts hotel occupancy rates, hospitality and retail. Thus, this becomes a massive revenue driver for the town as a whole.