Both Swansea City and Bradford City have made huge achievements in reaching the League Cup final at Wembley which creates limitless potential for both clubs, long after the final is over.
There is no doubt that financially, the League Cup final will aid Bradford more than it will aid their opponents.
Bradford City fielded a team against Aston Villa in the semi-finals that cost around £7,500 to put together. This is a figure that will be eclipsed by the percentage of their ticket sales for this final which exceeds a number greater than their average home gate.
Bradford will also benefit from various external revenue streams that they otherwise wouldn’t have access to such as a large chunk of the TV revenue which is sold through selling broadcasting rights fir the final.
Bradford are a League Two club and while they have the infrastructure of a historic club and a big stadium, they have been plagued by financial problems away from the field in recent months and years.
Bradford are expected to gain around £1 million minimum from this final which will go a long way to eradicating the multi-million debt which was published via their last set of accounts. Ladbrokes have Bradford City at 7/2 to lift the trophy, a win that will not only make history for Bradford, but also give the club and players impetus on and off the pitch to help the club push on and get promoted in the near future – the only real guarantee of improving financial means for Bradford City.
For Swansea, it’s a completely different ball game because of their Premier League status.
Swansea enjoy cash from TV rights in the Premier League and they are able to generate extra money through sponsorship and merchandising, which means the cash from this final won’t make much difference overall.
What will is the fact that Swansea are guaranteed a crack at European football if they win the tournament, which eases the pressure on them gaining this via a high league finish.
What European football creates for Swansea is extra money through gate receipts and TV broadcasting deals.
This would be cash that Swansea would otherwise not enjoy which allows Michael Laudrup to increase the wage budget to stop the better players from leaving and also to dip into the transfer market for further signings.
So for Swansea it’s much more a case of a long term financial effect whereas with Bradford it’s all about the short term gains which will ease a bit of pressure.