While parachute payments provide something of a cushion, relegation from the Premier League is still a considerable financial hit.
Could the teams who finished in 18th place, one spot from safety, argue that they might have stayed up but for City?
There are a couple of ways of looking at this.
Firstly, the results against City who took at least four points off every 18th-placed team other than Birmingham.
Secondly, the mere fact that City were able to assemble a squad far better than their finances should have allowed. Could they otherwise have been involved in relegation battles?
Again, this is not to say City would have been relegated. It is about chance.
BBC Sport has taken the total prize money earned by the team finishing in 20th in the following season. That suggests a minimum return for having stayed in the top flight.
Deducted from that is the first season of parachute payments to give a net amount.
Hull were relegated twice in the period, costing the Tigers £93.78m.
The Tigers finished below City in the table four times, adding £5.2m in place money to the sum.
It leaves the East Yorkshire club as the second-most impacted on £99m.
Swansea are third in the table with £63.1m. Of that total, £54m is from relegation and £9.1m in place money from the seven seasons the Swans were in the top flight.
Newcastle suffered relegation by finishing 18th in 2015-16, costing them a projected £60.4m, of which £7.9m was place money.
Norwich (£43.8m), Wigan (£39.6m), Burnley (£31.1m), Bolton (£26.4m) and Birmingham (£25.1m) also suffered relegations in 18th place.