Lincoln City to land six-figure windfall from Chelsea cup tie
League One high-flyers Lincoln City are set for a six-figure windfall from their Carabao Cup third-round tie with Chelsea on Tuesday.
The biggest match at the LNER Stadium for five years – since Liverpool visited, and won 7-2, in September 2020 – is expected to boost the club’s coffers by around £250,000.
On top of being a 10,000-plus sell-out, the clash has also been selected for live broadcast by Sky Sports.
“Cup ties like this are huge first and foremost for what it means to our players, staff, fans and community, but there is also significant financial benefit which comes with facing a team like Chelsea,” Lincoln CEO Liam Scully told City PM.
“The revenue which will be generated as a result of a single fixture like this across gate share, broadcasting and commercial deals will be a considerable outlier to previous seasons and allow for us to invest back into the club.
“To put that into perspective, for most League One clubs, a draw against one of the Premier League’s top six could be considered equivalent to a top sponsorship or naming rights deal.”
Lincoln to reinvest proceeds in business model
Lincoln made the most of a big pay-day from playing Arsenal in the FA Cup in 2017, using the proceeds to nurture a talent pipeline that has paid dividends.
“You just need to rewind a few years to see exactly what that can do too,” Scully added.
“The money generated from that cup run allowed us to build a new training ground, an investment which we are seeing returns on with record sales made this summer from academy products.”
The Imps go into the game third in League One, two points off the top after taking 18 points from their first nine fixtures.
They are unbeaten in 10 games in all competitions and have already come through two rounds of the Carabao Cup, winning away at both Harrogate and Burton Albion.
Club World Cup winners Chelsea, meanwhile, are winless in three matches and have suffered consecutive losses for the first time since February.