What Premier League promotion means for Leeds United: Budgets, player futures and revamping Elland Road

New York Times

29-04-2025

Ao Tanaka's final flourish. Joel Piroe's assist of the season. Largie Ramazani's somersaults. Patrick Bamford as conductor. Sam Byram's Leeds salute. Josuha Guilavogui's champagne attack on Daniel Farke. Harry Gray's crossbar climb. Jayden Bogle's wandering toddler.
More than 35,000 yellow scarves swirled five years later than hoped. Some families embraced while others shared selfies. Strangers, turned friends in their adjacent Elland Road seats, grinned in disbelief, soaking up every second.
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This was Leeds United waving goodbye to the Championship in West Yorkshire. This is what they have watched so many rivals do over the years and this is what they hope will be their last taste of the EFL's icy touch in these parts. The optimists will hope it's goodbye for good.
With promotion secured, Monday's match against Bristol City felt more like a celebration. It lacked the venom, bite and outright need of last week's Stoke City game, but the hosts were no less dominant in Monday's 4-0 win. You would not have believed this was the league's fifth-best team, with two defeats in their last 13 matches, still fighting for a play-off place, visiting Leeds.
Liam Manning's side were outplayed from the first minute until the last. United had 75 per cent possession, 3.39 expected goals (xG) to 0.07, 23 shots to three, 12 shots on target to one and nine Opta-defined 'big chances' to nil. Leeds were too good for Bristol City and they are far, far too good for this division.
A title, barring a mishap at virtually relegated Plymouth Argyle on Saturday, awaits Farke and his side. It will be a just reward for what could be a 100-point season and one of the most dominant campaigns in the club's history. The silverware would give them something to show off during next Monday's parade. This is what promotion means for Leeds.
Elland Road's redevelopment has already taken its biggest steps forward in years over the past few days. Last week, Leeds City Council's executive board unanimously agreed to proceed with negotiations for the sale of council land to the club in order to expand the Don Revie and John Charles stands.
On Monday, the club released the first concepts of how the proposed expansion, which would take the stadium's capacity to approximately 53,000, could look. This redevelopment of the stadium has been planned and refined over many years.
While the overall project will cost more, the club is confident of raising around £100million ($134.1m) — which it still needs to find — to ensure it gets the redevelopment over the line.
Promotion has not been cited as the key to starting work, but it will certainly make life a lot easier for the club as they hope to progress along this road. United intend to bring a pre-application to a city plans panel meeting with the council on May 8.
Beyond that, there will be a public exhibition at the club's centenary pavilion on May 22-23. There will also be consultation events as part of a community roadshow at The Holbeck social club on May 13 and Dragon Hotel on May 19.
In short, there's going to be a lot more money coming into the club and an urgent need for upgrades in virtually every position across the squad. We will come to the numbers in terms of raw income in the next section, but the manager will certainly expect to see a far greater budget made available in the summer window after promotion.
Whether Leeds had won promotion or found themselves in the Championship for a third consecutive season, it seemed the club was heading for a hard reset this summer. The only difference is that it's the reset everyone will prefer in this reality.
Rather than waving goodbye to all of their Premier League-ready talent in order to satisfy financial fair play rules and then replacing them with cheaper downgrades, there will be some goodbyes, but with significant upgrades instead.
Promotion brings with it big decisions on who Farke thinks can make the grade. Ethan Ampadu is, unsurprisingly, among the few players decision-makers are already hoping can make that transition and remain a starter next season.
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Red Bull, United's chief sponsor and minority shareholder, will see its front-of-shirt sponsorship deal balloon after promotion. The original deal between the two parties had already secured Leeds the biggest shirt sponsor in Championship history.
However, United's Premier League terms with the energy drink company will catapult them straight into the top flight's 10 most lucrative current shirt deals from the off. The increased income does not come from the sponsor alone, either.
Adidas was paying Leeds around £10million a year when it first started manufacturing the club's shirts ahead of the 2020-21 season after promotion to the Premier League. This fee was significantly reduced in the second tier, but should now return to that £10m figure next year.
The increase in television revenue is striking. For example, this season, Leeds took in around £39m as a parachute payment from the Premier League. In addition to that, they received around £5.8m from the latest EFL television deal, which takes the overall figure to around £45m.
The bottom club in the top flight last season, Sheffield United, received £110m. The figure will go up next season as the new Premier League television cycle starts, but precise figures are yet to be confirmed on what this will look like.
Promotion has effectively locked in a minimum of £200m in broadcast money over the next three years for Leeds, even if their top-flight stay ended after one season. Based on the current TV cycle, which will go up from next term, United would get £110m in their first year, £48m from the first parachute payment and then £39m from the second.
Staying in the league next season would, of course, see those figures even further enhanced. Commercially, Leeds are already a big deal, even in the Championship.
As their accounts for 2023-24 showed, commercial income of £43.2m was by far the biggest in the division and was, for example, three times the size of Sunderland's (£14.1m). That £43.2m is the highest commercial income recorded in the second tier, surpassing the club's own 2019-20 record of £33.8m.
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If you then add the riches and pulling power of the Premier League to that commercial footprint, your mind can start to run wild with the possibilities. For example, the last time Leeds were promoted, ignoring the covid-affected 2020-21 finances, commercial income rose from £33.8m in 2019-20 to £49m in 2021-22 (45 per cent).
Undoubtedly, missing out on promotion would have made it harder for Leeds to hold onto their better players. The financial situation would have forced their hand on several exits, but even those they felt they could keep may have had their heads turned by more attractive offers elsewhere.
As it is, promotion will mean Leeds have far more control over who goes and who stays. Profit and sustainability rules (PSR) will still apply and have to be monitored in the top flight, even with the influx of cash coming the club's way.
In the accounts for this current season, which will be published in April 2026, the club's PSR loss limit is £61million. Had Leeds failed to win promotion, this limit would have dropped to £39m, which paints the stark picture of how much belts would have had to be tightened.
As it is, with Premier League football incoming, the accounts for 2025-26, which will be published in April 2027, will continue with a PSR loss limit of £61m. This is because of the two Championship years preceding next term's rise. You can see, despite the increased income, Leeds will have the legacy of those EFL years keeping them in check.
The PSR picture will be affected by promotion wage-rises being applied across the squad, too. These range from 50 to 60 per cent, but the majority of the players will sit closer to the bottom end of that scale.
Aside from that, promotion means this year's group will each take home a six-figure promotion bonus. Last summer, Ampadu, as captain, stipulated that the club's bonus pot for the squad would be spread equally across every player, regardless of how much or little they played this season.
Promotion also means the players will head out to Las Vegas for an end-of-season celebration once the dust has settled on Saturday's trip to Plymouth Argyle.
(Top photos: Getty Images, left, and Leeds United FC)