In the next few days, two of the biggest soccer games in the world will be played at Wembley, England’s national stadium, in London–the Champions League Final and the Championship Play-Off Final.

The first game is a huge deal. It’s the soccer equivalent of the Super Bowl, pitting the best two European clubs–which effectively means the best in the world–against each other in front of a packed 90,000 seat stadium and a potential TV audience of hundreds of millions. The winning team will walk away with €9m ($12.8m), which added to earnings from ticket sales, TV rights and merchandise through the earlier rounds of the tournament could equate to something like €50m ($71.3m) in total income. It will also be the first time in nearly 20 years that this game has been played at the spiritual home of soccer, and no one can doubt the pedigree of the two teams involved: Barcelona and Manchester United.

But that’s just a warm-up–the real action will take place two days later. I’d understand if you’re a bit suspicious of this statement, as the two teams that will contest the Play-Off Final–Reading and Swansea City–are definitely not world-class, and I might be a little biased, being from Reading. And although there is some extra spice added by the international flavor of the match–an English team against a Welsh team–the game certainly doesn’t have the global pull of the Champions League Final. Where it does win out is in pure, hard cash.

The losing team will walk away with the entire gate receipts from the match. With average ticket prices over £50 ($80.9), this is a big consolation prize even minus the operating costs. So why are the winners so generous? The real trophy at stake here is a place in the English Premier League, making it potentially the biggest prize-match in not just soccer, but in all of sports.

The Premier League generates over a billion dollars more than any of the other major soccer leagues in the world. Even finishing dead last this year should still earn a club around £40m ($64.7m) from TV rights alone. And those teams that do finish at the bottom (and are thus moved down a league) will be guaranteed an income of another £40m over the following three years in “parachute payments” (intended to protect teams from the financial shock of moving down a league). Factor in ticket sales, merchandise and sponsorship, and the money at stake could easily top $150m.

The two teams contesting the Champions League Final will remain at the cutting edge of soccer, win or lose. They’ll remain at the top of their national leagues, because both have already sealed those titles, and they are guaranteed another high-paying run in the pan-European tournament next year. Minus the trophy, the modest cash prize and the extra notch by their names in the history books, it won’t make a huge difference if they win or lose. The Play-Off Final, though, could make or break a team, catapulting it to stardom or dooming it to mediocrity. There is no direct comparison in U.S. sports, but it would be something like the equivalent of the top college football teams being given the chance to win a professional franchise. Imagine Stanford in the NFL.

But be careful what you wish for. The financial shock of this sudden leap in revenue can have unwanted consequences. The teams dropping down from the Premier League will be hemorrhaging money–and with it, their star players–but the teams on the ascent are not immune to these concerns. Having impressed in the previous season, their best players may be tempted by offers from elsewhere–and the temptation to splash out and buy a whole new squad can have disastrous effects and saddle a club with back-breaking debt. What goes up often comes back down again, and tasting the success of promotion doesn’t guarantee success once there. Fans accustomed to the joy of seeing their team win consistently may have to trade this for crushing defeat after crushing defeat and the season-long fight just to survive.

Realistically for the smaller teams, though, this is a price worth paying. They are unlikely to ever be fighting for the top accolades, but that doesn’t mean they can’t enjoy the small victories that come their way, and the hope–however slight it might be–that the future could be brighter. For most English soccer fans, just the chance of seeing their team play at Wembley is worth all the frustration and heartbreak.

And I’m one of them. Come on, Reading.

@@line:In addition to all of the money up for grabs with relegation and promotion, Tom Taylor has placed a £10m bet on Reading to win, so let’s just say it’s no coincidence that he thinks the Play-Off Final is so important. Send him your luck at [email protected].