Promotion - that's going to cost you

Fans of Hull, West Brom and Stoke City will spend an extra £100 million on their teams as a direct result of promotion to the Premiership, according to new research from Virgin Money.

But the three teams relegated from the Premiership could suffer a £28 million drop in fans' spending as supporters come to terms with life out of the elite.

Virgin Money's research shows that extra revenue - aside from TV cash - for teams promoted to the Premiership will come from new season ticket applications, extra replica shirts, more matchday spending and even an uptake of financial products linked to fans' favourite teams.

However fans of Derby, Birmingham and Reading claim they will in turn spend a lot less on their clubs next season as a direct result of being relegated.

According to Virgin Money the so-called ‘fans economy' can help or hinder teams depending on the success of a club. The three promoted Championship clubs will share an estimated £31 million on extra matchday spending alone, with around one in ten promoted fans saying they'll spend more on food, programmes and merchandising now that their teams are playing in the top flight.

Virgin Money's Football Fans' Inflation Index, which has been tracking the costs of being a supporter since January 2006, shows the willingness of fans to spend more comes despite the fact that the cost of being a regular football supporter has increased three per cent in the past three months alone.

By contrast fans of the three clubs relegated from the Premiership have vowed to cut their spending on matchdays as they prepare themselves for life in the lower leagues. Virgin Money estimates that fans of the three relegated Premiership sides will next year spend as much as £12.3 million less on matchdays alone just because their team is no longer part of the elite in English football.

Virgin Money spokesman Scott Mowbray said: "You can't necessarily put a price on loyalty but fans are demonstrating it with their cash. Loyalty pays for football clubs as fans spend more when their team is winning. Of course fans won't be counting the cost of winning promotion but they will be spending more to follow their teams in the Premiership.

"It's not just TV money that clubs earn from being in the Premiership - their fans are also spending more demonstrating that credit crunch aside football can still count on the loyalty of their supporters."

Around half of all the promoted teams' fans said they would travel more regularly to away games now their team is in the Premier League and some 36 per cent of Stoke fans are looking forward to buying an extra replica strip as the new season approaches.

However almost one in five Birmingham City fans says they will spend less on club merchandising and a similar number of fans of each of the three relegated clubs will not be buying a new replica shirt next season.

Virgin Money's Football Fans' Price Index shows that in the past two years the cost of attending games has risen by 12.5 per cent. The index is aimed at helping supporters keep track of the rises and falls in the costs of supporting their team. The company identified the match day essentials fans buy and keeps tabs on increases and decreases.

At the launch of the index in January 2006, the match day basket of goods cost £77.95. However the most recent analysis puts the cost at £87.75 - a rise of £9.80. An increase in the cost of petrol, match tickets and replica shirts is the main reason behind the increase.

Virgin Money's Football Fans' Prices Index runs every three months and looks at the cost of a typical basket of goods monitoring the ups and downs of prices.