How much Cardiff City will actually get in parachute payments after relegation and how they are worked out
By Dean Rudge
The Bluebirds' spell in the Premier League will earn them north of £100million in broadcasting revenues this season
After taking their survival battle to the penultimate game of the season, Cardiff City's relegation to the Championship was confirmed by the club's 3-2 defeat to Crystal Palace at the weekend.
A year after they pipped Fulham to second place in the Championship and secured automatic promotion, the Bluebirds are heading back to England’s second tier, joining Huddersfield Town, as well as Fulham themselves.
As the drop continues to sink in, attention will turn to preparing for the changes to come next season - and one of the biggest changes is the stark difference in financial reward between the two leagues.
As in 2014, Cardiff's drop has been cemented after a single season in the top flight, although the Bluebirds endured a far more respectable and united season this time around.
We've looked at how much money Cardiff will have brought in this season, and how much change they are set to see.
How much will Cardiff have earned this season?
A spell in the top flight will earn Cardiff north of £100million in broadcasting revenues this season, thanks to the lucrative nature of Premier League broadcasting rights.
West Bromwich Albion, for example, were awarded £102million in "media related income" last season for their 18th-place finish.
This season's income, for Cardiff City, will be a huge increase on last season, when the club earned £21.4million from centralised broadcasting and commercial distributions.
In winning promotion to the Premier League, Cardiff were among the most profligate clubs in the division, racking up an operating loss of £34million on revenues of £34.8million, although this figure included £23.2million worth of promotion bonuses.
How do the parachute payments work and how much will Cardiff get?
The payments are calculated based on the TV and prize money from the season in which the club are relegated: with 55 per cent of that figure handed out in the first year in the Championship, before falling to 45 per cent and 20 per cent in years two and three respectively.
However, a sticking point for Cardiff is that clubs which only spend single seasons in the Premier League before relegation are not eligible to receive the third instalment. Clubs that are promoted back to the Premier League during the parachute payment period, then they no longer receive the payments.
But, based on that formula, Cardiff can expect to receive more than £40million in parachute payments next season, which will help in cushioning the blow of relegation.
Then, should Cardiff fail to win promotion in 2019/20, the second and final parachute payment would be in the region of £35million.
Cardiff can take the case of Middlesbrough for how their finances should look next season.
Relegated in 2016/17, the club saw broadcasting revenues plummet, from £100.6million in their relegation season to £46.3million last time out.