The dream is very much alive, and there is no better time to win promotion to the Premier League.

Play-off glory would guarantee Ipswich Town, two points off the top-six with two games to play, a £120m-plus reward from next season.

The Premier League’s current three-year, £5.5bn TV deal, which runs between 2013-2016, will see around £65m go to even the top-flight’s bottom club next season, while relegation would be cushioned by £60m in parachute payments, over four years.

The domestic TV deal is worth over £3bn, while globally, the league is broadcast to over 200 countries worldwide – in a package which is worth an additional £2bn-plus over three years.

Daniel Plumley, a lecturer in Sports Business Management at Sheffield Hallam University and football finance expert, said: “The bubble has not yet burst and shows no sign of doing so.

“The latest broadcasting deal has increased again and the interest overseas has generated over £2.2bn.

“The Premier League is the most attractive league in the world and while there is never a bad time to join the it, now is as good as any.”

Should Town not reach the top flight this season, manager Mick McCarthy has proved he can mould a play-off chasing team from a limited budget, while Premier League new-boys Burnley, under Sean Dyche, paid a transfer fee for just one player this season on their way to the top-flight.

Such frugality is likely to become more evident, with Championship owners being able to invest just £3m of their own money from next season, as a result of new Financial Fair Play (FFP) regulations.

“There’s still an elite in English football that are consistently in the Champions League that can rely on that extra revenue,” Plumley added.

“Further down the leagues, clubs are being run more prudently with the emphasis being on breaking-even.

“Premier League clubs can lose up to £105m between 2013 and 2016 while in the Championship, the current figure is £8m this season. The difference is staggering.”

A golden opportunity

Should Town be promoted, becoming a Premier League team would see them awarded between £60-65m (as a result of associated domestic and worldwide TV deals). If they were to be relegated the following season, they would be handed a further £60m in parachute payments over the next four years.

The current domestic TV deal is worth around £3.4bn between 2013-16, while the global TV deal is worth more than £2bn. The Premier League receives a whopping £6.5m for each game broadcast.

This season’s bottom club in the Premier League will receive around £65m in TV money (includes facility fees and positional payment)

On average in the Premier League, clubs’ make 50% of their money from TV, 27% from commercial deals and just 23% from matchday sales.