Millions at Stake in Final Premier League Games

On Sunday, the 20-team Barclays English Premier League, the most successful soccer league in the world, will conclude its regular season.

Unlike major U.S. sports, winning the regular-season title is the league's highest achievement. Manchester United, known to its fans as the Red Devils or Man U, has already secured enough points to win the championship. But it's still a high-stakes day for the rest of the league, which will make for a thrilling and potentially terrifying day for fans.

Manchester United's Cristiano Ronaldo trains with teammates at the Carrington training grounds.

Like every major European soccer league, the English Premier League follows a system known as "relegation." The season's three worst-performing teams drop down a division. They're replaced by the three best teams from the second-tier league, which is ironically dubbed the "Championship."

Imagine if a team like the St. Louis Cardinals was one loss away from Triple-A ball or if Microsoft(MSFT Quote) was dropped from the Dow Jones Industrial Average after a bad quarter.

That's the fear felt by passionate Newcastle United fans, nicknamed the "Toon Army." The club stands in the final relegation spot after a nightmarish run of injuries, player and managerial drama, and conflicts between fans and mercurial owner Mike Ashley. (Think Mark Cuban without the success.) If league results don't go Newcastle's way this weekend, the team will play next season in smaller stadiums in front of fewer fans.

The financial consequences for relegated teams can be nothing short of catastrophic. Having a spot in the Premier League versus the Championship League can bring in $60 million a season by some estimates.