View: Sunderland to rue missed windfall opportunity amid FA Cup defeat
Sunderland could rue a missed windfall opportunity after crashing out of the FA Cup against Stoke on Saturday afternoon.
Given the injury crisis ensuing at the Stadium of Light, changes were almost guaranteed with Aaron Connolly drafted back in for the 2-1 defeat which could amplify the concerns over his future [Northern Echo].
It wasn’t just Connolly who failed to impact the game on 11 January with the Black Cats deserving of their defeat which in turn, will force them to rue a missed opportunity in terms of financial gain.
Sunderland miss out on FA Cup windfall after Stoke defeat
Had the Mackems progressed to the next round, they would have netted a tidy £115,000 purely for the win, although they will receive 45 per cent of ticket revenue from the game.
Unfortunately, that financial gain looks to be minimal with shy of 15,000 supporters in attendance for the game, which wasn’t a great look.
While you could certainly make a case for it being highly unlikely, a further £2million would have been up for grabs if the Black Cats somehow won the entire competition with several other factors to consider.
For each game televised, over £100,000 would be split between the two sides if it was selected for TV coverage with the prize money increasing for each round of progression.
Although it’s impossible to predict the draw, had Sunderland achieved victory against the Potters and drawn a Premier League side at home, you’d imagine the attendance would shoot up and a full house could have seen the Black Cats profit by £400,000.
There will be the odd positive to take from the defeat as it now means Sunderland can have their focus firmly on achieving promotion which as it stands, they are in an excellent position to do.
In other Sunderland news, Crystal Palace are eyeing a move for three Black Cats stars.
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