Championship Promotion Odds: Sheepish Southampton are the heavy favourites ahead of the final

The stage is set for the 2026 Championship play-off final. Hull City will tussle with Southampton for a place in next season's Premier League at Wembley in what is known as the richest game in football (£200m).

Following the conclusion of the two semi-final ties, we at Betfred Insights have taken a look at the betting markets ahead of the final.

The beauty of the play-offs is that they stand alone from the regular season. Hull City were the lowest-ranked side of the four teams and they required a victory against Norwich City on the final day to climb back into the top six despite spending most of the campaign inside those positions.

The Tigers then had to do battle twice with Millwall, who finished the season in third and who at one point seemed like they could end up taking the second automatic promotion spot.

It may not have been a definitive answer to the age-old who would win scenario, but the Tigers bested the Lions over two legs in their semi-final thanks to a 2-0 victory at The Den.

This season has been quite remarkable for Hull considering they narrowly avoided relegation to League 1 in 2024/25. Now they are just one game away from returning to the Premier League for the first time in a decade.

Sergej Jakirovic's side were 12/1 to gain promotion before the start of the campaign. They were 11/2 just before the play-offs began and now they are 15/8 to go up.

Southampton have reached the final by defeating Middlesbrough 2-1 over two legs. The Saints will play a nervous waiting game, however, due to the EFL launching proceedings against them for cheating after a Southampton analyst was caught spying on Middlesbrough training ahead of the first leg.

The punishment can range from a fine to a points deduction and even expulsion from the play-offs, with the latter being the most popular amongst neutrals.

For now at least, they can start to prepare for Hull at Wembley. Unlike the Tigers, Southampton's journey to the play-offs isn't one for the underdogs.

They came down from the Premier League last year with parachute payments, like Ipswich Town. Although their campaign started very slowly under Will Still, the squad they had should've always been competing towards the top of the table. Tonda Eckert was able to get the best out of them but the cheating allegation puts a mark against their achievements.

The Saints were among one of the favourites to get promoted in 2025/26 with a 7/4 price before the campaign began. Then they were 15/8 just before the play-offs started and now they are as short as 2/5 to return to the top flight.

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