Championship Relegation Odds 2026/27

Last updated: 3/09/2026

The Championship relegation market has already moved away from its pre-season shape. Lincoln City remain shortest at 8/15, but Preston are now 9/10 and Bolton are 6/4, which tells a very different story from July.

Three clubs go down to League One. No play-off, no second chance and no reward for finishing 22nd rather than 24th.

Odds correct as of 3 September 2026.

Championship relegation odds 2026/27

Head to our Championship outrights to place your bet.

Who are the favourites to be relegated from the Championship?

Lincoln remain favourites at 8/15, but the market behind them has changed sharply. Preston are now 9/10, Bolton are 6/4 and Portsmouth are 2/1.

Pre-season reputation starts losing weight as soon as the fixtures begin. Results matter first, but squad depth, injuries, late transfer business and any points deduction can all move this market quickly.

How many points do you need to stay up in the Championship?

This is the question everyone circles and nobody quite answers, and the honest reason is there isn't a number to give you.

Survival usually lands somewhere in the low fifties. But clubs have gone down with more than that and stayed up with fewer, because it depends entirely on how the bottom of a particular season shakes out. Six clubs scrapping over the same few points is a very different year from three of them falling away by Christmas.

The target moves anyway, because this division does points deductions like no other.

How Championship relegation works

Three clubs go down to League One and there's no second chance about it. Bottom three on the final day, and that's your season.

Last year showed exactly how far a deduction can shift things. Sheffield Wednesday were docked twelve points in October 2025 after going into administration, then another six that December for breaches of the rules on paying people.

Eighteen points is too big a hole for anyone. On 22 February 2026, with thirteen games still to play, Wednesday became the first club in the history of the Football League to be relegated in February. [Sources: ESPN and RTE, both 22 February 2026.]

That's the extreme version of something that happens in some form most seasons, and it's worth remembering when you're looking at a market in July. A deduction handed down in November reprices the whole thing overnight, and no amount of pre-season reading sees it coming.

How Championship relegation betting works

Three bets sit close enough together to get muddled up. To be relegated pays out if a club finishes in the bottom three, wherever in those three they land. To finish bottom only pays on 24th place, which is why it's a longer price on the same club. And some bookies price up staying up, which is the first bet turned round the other way.

Worth knowing what a price is and isn't while you're looking at that table. It tells you how strongly a club's chances of going down are rated, and it isn't a percentage you can read straight off, because every price has the bookies' cut built into it. Ours included.

That's how bookies have always worked and how they pay for themselves, so treat a short price as a strong opinion rather than a number to take literally. Our odds explainer goes through how prices get put together.

Everything settles on final league position once the last round of fixtures is done.

Frequently asked questions

Who are the favourites for Championship relegation?

Lincoln City are 8/15 favourites, followed by Preston at 9/10 and Bolton at 6/4. Odds correct as of 3 September 2026.

How many clubs are relegated from the Championship?

Three clubs are relegated to League One. A relegation bet wins if the selected club finishes anywhere in the bottom three.

Who will be relegated from the Championship?

Nobody knows, which is the point of the market. Lincoln City are the current favourites for relegation at 4/7, followed by Preston North End at 10/11, Bolton Wanderers at 6/4 and Portsmouth at 2/1. Prices correct as of 3 September 2026.

How many points do you need to avoid relegation from the Championship?

There's no fixed figure. Survival has usually taken a total in the low fifties, though points deductions and unusually tight seasons have moved it in both directions.

Has any team been relegated from the Championship with 50 points?

It's rare but it has happened, usually in seasons where the bottom half stayed unusually close together.

What are West Brom's relegation odds?

West Bromwich Albion are 16/1 to be relegated from the Championship in 2026/27, placing them fourteenth in the 24-club market. Prices correct as of 3 September 2026.

How many teams get relegated from the Championship?

Three. The bottom three clubs at the end of the season drop into League One, and three come up from League One to replace them.

Championship relegation odds at Midnite

The full 24-club market sits on the Championship page, alongside promotion and outright winner. Prices there update as the market moves, and the table above tells you when this one was taken.

Decide how much you are comfortable spending before placing a bet, rather than adjusting your budget based on weekly results. Deposit limits and reality checks are available in your account settings, while the Responsible Play page provides details of the available tools and support.

About the author

Ben Cullen is Head of Risk at Midnite, where he leads the team that prices the markets and manages the sportsbook's exposure. He has spent 12 years in trading and risk, previously at Ladbrokes Coral, ComeOn and KingMakers. He writes here on how betting markets are actually built, priced and settled. Connect with Ben on LinkedIn.