So there it is, Leeds United have been relegated from the Premier League. It’s been a challenging season at Elland Road but ultimately the Whites didn’t have enough to avoid finishing in the bottom three. As such, they will be playing Championship football once more next season.
Leeds know all about how challenging the second tier can be and after tasting the riches of the top flight, relegation leaves a bitter taste. Here’s what’s about to change for the Whites now they’ve fallen out of the Premier League.
Financial repercussions
Leeds United recorded a turnover of £189m last season in the Premier League, with top flight broadcasting rights making up a sizeable chunk of that. Fortunately, Leeds will be entitled to three years of parachute payments, but they will make considerably less than that next season.
Read more: Leeds United tipped to repeat Chelsea takeover action plan with incredible summer
The first parachute payment stands at 55 per cent of what a top flight team would earn through broadcasting rights and that means Leeds will be dropping down to the Championship with a rather large financial cushion to break their fall. But, throw in knock-on effects such as the expected drop in commercial revenue and Leeds will still have to cut their cloth accordingly.
Championship clubs can earn around £8m in facility fees due to games being shown on TV and Leeds are likely to be a popular choice when it comes to broadcast picks, but that’s some way short of what they would stand to pick up in the Premier League.
No more Match of the Day
Relegation means Saturday nights will look different for Leeds fans. Instead of settling down in front of the telly in time for the Match of the Day theme music, they will be forced to look elsewhere to catch up on the Whites.
ITV currently hold the rights to Football League highlights at present with the programme being shown twice across their channels on Saturday night. This season the initial show has been broadcast at 9pm on ITV 4 before being repeated on ITV 1 later in the evening and again in the morning.
No away ticket price cap
Those Leeds fans have been travelling to away games over the last couple of seasons have making use of the away ticket price cap that exists in the top tier, limiting tickets to just £30. As it stands there is no equivalent in the Championship, with clubs having the freedom to charge away fans what they deem to be appropriate.
Throw in the possibility of smaller away allocations at smaller grounds and being a home and away supporter looks a little trickier.
There is one bit of good news, though. Relegation means Elland Road season ticket prices won’t be increasing and supporters can claim their 10 per cent rebate.
Read more: Leeds United relegated to Championship: Live reaction and analysis as Premier League dream over
No VAR
There’s still no VAR in the Championship and Leeds won’t have the advantage of video technology to call upon when it comes to the tight decisions. VAR is still only used at Premier League grounds and more often than not the system makes up for the possibility of human error.
It does work both ways, of course, but the lack of VAR means Leeds fans might have to deal with their fair share of officiating shortcomings next season.
More night matches
Leeds fans don’t need telling about how gruelling a season in the second tier can be. A 46-game season means an increase of eight games and generally they are squeezed into various midweek slots throughout the campaign.
Fortunately for supporters, most midweek games are broadcast live on Sky Sports. There’ll be two games over Easter, while Christmas will be a lot more hectic, too, with fixtures being squeezed in seemingly at any available opportunity.
Leeds being the draw that they are, they’re expected to be selected for TV more than most next season, meaning kick-off times will vary. The reality of life in the Championship might not hit home, though, until the fixtures are released on June 22.
READ NEXT:
