Every few months, football finds a new way to convince itself that the future has arrived.
A new broadcast deal gets signed. Another streaming platform enters the market. Clubs announce digital initiatives that promise to bring supporters closer to the action than ever before. Looking at the money involved, it’s easy to conclude that modern football has become almost entirely a television business.
Then you look at the Championship.
For all the attention paid to broadcasting revenue, matchday income remains one of the most important financial pillars in the second tier. Ticket sales, hospitality packages, food and drink purchases, parking, club merchandise and everything else attached to a busy Saturday afternoon still contribute a significant share of revenue for many clubs.
That reality often gets overlooked because football’s biggest stories tend to happen at Premier League level.
The Blackout Debate
This one feels slightly different heading into the 2026/27 season. The fixture list is about to land, broadcasters are preparing for another year of expanded live coverage, and the Premier League itself is experimenting with direct-to-consumer distribution through its new Premier League+ platform in Singapore. None of that means the Saturday blackout is about to disappear overnight. The political resistance remains substantial, particularly from clubs and leagues that fear any further shift in attention towards the top flight.
Still, the direction of travel is becoming harder to ignore. For decades the Premier League’s media strategy revolved around selling packages to broadcasters. Now it’s also testing what happens when it owns the customer relationship directly. That’s a small experiment for now, tucked away in an overseas market. But these things have a habit of starting small.
The reason the blackout remains such a sensitive issue is simple: it was designed, at least in part, to protect attendances lower down the pyramid.
Whether it succeeds is a subject of constant debate. What isn’t really disputed is the importance of supporters physically turning up.
The Unique Ecosystem
Championship clubs operate in a very different financial environment to Premier League sides. They may attract large crowds and generate substantial commercial revenue, but they do not enjoy the same broadcasting windfalls. Promotion can transform a club’s finances almost overnight. Remaining in the Championship usually requires a more delicate balancing act.
That makes every revenue stream matter.
If proof were needed that attendances still matter, the EFL’s own figures provide it. Nearly 1.5 million supporters attended matches across the Championship, League One and League Two during the festive programme between Boxing Day and New Year’s Day, with Boxing Day producing the highest-attended round of the 2025/26 season at that point. In an era dominated by streaming, those numbers are difficult to dismiss.
A full stadium creates value in ways that extend beyond the ticket itself. Supporters spend money before kick-off, during the match and after the final whistle. Corporate hospitality remains an important source of income. Sponsors benefit from packed grounds and visible fan engagement. The atmosphere generated by a strong crowd also becomes part of the product clubs are ultimately selling.
None of that can be replicated entirely through television.
Of course, viewing habits continue to change. The distinction between domestic and international audiences is becoming increasingly blurred, particularly as streaming services expand and leagues explore direct relationships with viewers.
It’s one reason conversations about VPNs keep resurfacing whenever the blackout is discussed. The issue isn’t that supporters suddenly became obsessed with privacy software. It’s that football rights are sold on a territorial basis, and viewers quickly notice when a match available through a US broadcaster isn’t available through a UK one. For anyone looking at how access differs between markets, PIA has servers across the United States — details here.
The Underlying Economics of the Championship
It remains surprisingly traditional.
The league continues to attract some of the strongest attendances in Europe. Clubs still devote enormous effort to season-ticket sales, matchday experiences and fan engagement because those supporters remain central to the business model. While television money dominates the conversation, local support continues to pay a meaningful portion of the bills.
That creates an interesting contrast with the direction football appears to be heading.
Perhaps that is why debates around broadcasting restrictions never quite go away. They are rarely just about television rights. More often, they are arguments about how football should be funded and who ultimately keeps clubs sustainable.
So how important is matchday revenue in the Championship era?
Important enough that football’s governing bodies are still willing to defend policies designed to protect it. Important enough that clubs continue to prioritise attendance growth even as media revenues expand. And important enough that, despite all the excitement surrounding streaming, subscriptions and global audiences, a packed stadium on a Saturday afternoon remains one of the most valuable assets a Championship club can have.