Bradford delighted at chance to cash in on Whites tie

The Bantams will host their West Yorkshire neighbours for the first time since 2000 when the two clubs meet on Wednesday, August 28 at Valley Parade.

Sky’s decision to select the derby for live transmission means both clubs will receive a cash windfall of £100,000 apiece to go with their share of gate receipts from what City hope will be a capacity crowd.

With Bradford also hoping to maximise their commercial income from the fixture, Rhodes anticipates a welcome boost to the club’s offers.

He said: “For so many years, we wished we could have a big Cup night or two and now we have been fortunate to have a few.

“Everyone knows what those nights were like a couple of years ago on our way to Wembley and, arguably, this could be the biggest of the lot with it being a local derby.

“Drawing Leeds should bring us a full house and I’d expect the club to earn anywhere between £200,000 and £250,000 from the tie.”

In common with the last few years, City, who are understood to have reduced their playing budget by around £500,000 for 2014-15, have begun the season expecting the club to make a loss.

However, as was the case in 2012-13, when Bradford got to the Capital One Cup final, and last term, when Nahki Wells was sold for £1.2m, the plan is to chip away at that deficit over the coming months.

Being handed a plum tie against Leeds that will be shown live on TV is, therefore, a major boost to the club’s financial prospects.

For joint chairman Rhodes, however, it is the chance to take on Leeds at Valley Parade for the first time since the heady days when Bradford were in the Premier League that has got the pulse racing.

He said: “If you had said to me last Friday that within a week we would have won the first game (at home to Coventry) with a stoppage-time winner, got through to the second round of the Capital One Cup and then drawn Leeds live on television...well, I would have snapped your hand off.

“There was an element of nervousness that I detected among some supporters before the first game, but we have had an excellent start and drawing Leeds has now capped that off.”