Reading secured promotion last week into the English soccer’s top flight, the Barclay’s Premier League.
For players and supporters the delightful spoils are all about prestige, about the honor of once again competing against the best of the best. That’s not to mention once-a-year visits from all the stars of the show, Manchester United, Manchester City, Arsenal, Chelsea, etc.
For the organization itself, the financial spoils are enormous. The club is guaranteed about £45m in TV money (about $72 million). Most estimates put the total value of promotion around $140 million. (The additional cash is from elevated ticket prices and far more valuable rights fees.)
How they spend all that new money is another matter, of course. This story talks about some of the models that did and didn’t work.
Reading is one of the “newer” clubs of the UK, having been established in only 1920. Only once before have the Royals been members of upper echelon soccer; They won EPL promotion for the 2006-2007 season, kicking with the big boys over two campaigns before falling back into the second tier.
So, all this remains quite new to the fans around Madejski Stadium. (Which at 24,000-plus is actually bigger than a couple of the current EPL grounds.)
So, you might consider the financial heft of what promotion means to a club such as Reading.
Or, just let the fan and player reaction set the scene in this neat video, where you can celebrate the moment of truth along with the team.
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