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It's time for the annual chestnut

It's time for that annual chestnut about the Championship play off final being the richest game in the world. It is, of course, the case that the team that loses will suffer financially: Financial strain

The financial prize awaiting Aston Villa or Derby County has actually fallen for the first time. Although the overall value of the Premier League TV rights deal has risen to a record £9.2 billion for the first time, the domestic rights bought by Sky Sports, BT Sports and Amazon have fallen from £5.4 billion to £5 billion. The payout for the winner of the Championship final (over time) has fallen from £174m to £170m, still a lot of money.

In some ways more is riding financially on the League One play off final. Sunderland will receive £35m in parachute payments in the coming season, but they still face big financial challenges.

If Charlton are promoted, the chances of barmy Belgian owner Roland Duchatelet selling the club would surely increase. Stay in League One and the club's losses will continue to mount. The best players will leave and there will be plenty of clubs interested in manager Lee Bowyer who is yet to agree a contract for next season.

Both clubs would find the Championship challenging, given the highly uneven playing field created by parachute payments and benefactor owners, not all of whom abide by the spirit of financial fair play rules. This issues has been extensively dealt with by Kieran Maguire of the PriceofFootball, our leading analyst of the finances of football, alongside the 'Swiss Ramble' from Zurich.

Nearly three-quarters of all EFL clubs are losing money, but the biggest losses are in the Championship as clubs chase the elusive dream of Premier League gold. Read here about why Nottingham Forest are keen to join the Premier League party: Financial reasons for wanting promotion

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