The Champions League has become the most exclusive celebration in European football: you either have a ticket or you covet it.
It guarantees sporting prestige but the attraction of competition also comes from the financial wealth on offer, and these are about to increase. UEFA forecasts suggest the new Champions League format, including a 36-team league stage, will see an additional £372 million ($477 million) distributed each season from the start of the 2024-25 campaign.
Manchester City, Arsenal and Liverpool are already assured of their qualification for next season and Aston Villa could join them this weekend. But for Manchester United, Newcastle United, Chelsea and, quite possibly, Tottenham, the cost of missing an opportunity will be painful.
Athleticism assesses how much clubs can expect to earn from the Champions League in 2024-2025.
Times are changing in the Champions League, but how?
UEFA’s flagship competition has grown in size, but the goal has long been to make it bigger. Next season, those ambitions will be realised, with an expanded tournament opening the door for four more clubs to take their place at the table.
The new format was perfectly explained on Athleticism but the abandonment of the traditional group stage in favor of a championship stage results in a marked increase in the number of matches. There will be 189 Champions League matches next season instead of the current 125 and more matches mean more money for those involved.
The desire to increase revenue through TV rights and commercial deals has always been at the heart of changes to the Champions League. The threat of a European Super League focused minds within UEFA in 2021 and, under pressure from the European Club Association (ECA), a revised competition was approved in 2022. The restless elite have been calmed with more Champions League matches (eight minimum). and the promise of higher returns.
UEFA estimates that total revenues from its four competitions (Champions League, Europa League, Europa Conference League and Super Cup) will increase from €3.5 billion (£3 billion; $3.78 billion) this season to 4.4 billion euros next, and that the money will be distributed to the participating clubs increases by almost 600 million euros. The Champions League prize pool alone is estimated at around €2.47 billion for 2024-25, compared to €2.03 billion this season.
This represents an increase of almost 22 percent in income to be distributed.
How is the distribution model changed?
The new format also brings changes to how money will be distributed, with greater emphasis placed on on-field performance.
The existing distribution model provides that money is distributed four ways: 25 percent of total revenue is distributed as participation fees, 30 percent as performance fees, an additional 30 percent based on the 10-year coefficient calculation of a club and final 15 percent. percent for a “market pool”. This depends on the value of television rights sold in the club’s country.
The system favored establishment. A club with a modern history of participating in UEFA competitions based in an elite league would see payouts tilted in their favor. Paris-Saint-Germain, for example, were eliminated from the 2022-23 Champions League in the round of 16, but earned €27 million more than quarter-finalists Benfica.
Champions League television revenues explode (Alex Caparros/Getty Images)
The distribution of top earners will change next season, with 27.5 percent reserved and split equally among the 36 clubs and an improved 37.5 percent paid out in performance-related payments.
The remaining 35 percent will now be allocated via a new “value pillar”. This will be a payment determined by the value of broadcast rights in the country in which the club is based and the club’s UEFA coefficient ranking.
Each of the 36 clubs will be ranked according to the average of the two calculations, with one share allocated to the club in 36th position, up to the 36 shares allocated to the highest ranked club. It can be assumed that Manchester City, Real Madrid, PSG and Bayern Munich will all feature prominently at the top.
“Sports performance can go one way or the other and there will be upheaval, but with the way the money is distributed it cements the competitive advantage held by the big clubs,” says Dr Dan Plumley , sports finance expert and lecturer based at Sheffield Hallam University. .
“You look at the numbers and that’s the reality. This will still benefit clubs that regularly engage in the Champions League.
Let’s talk about cold hard cash: what will it be worth?
Let’s start with a caveat. The figures predicted by UEFA last month are not set in stone, but the estimates are unlikely to be very far off.
The simplest starting point is what qualification among the 36 competing clubs will bring: a check for €18.6 million, compared to €15.6 million this season.
The amount to be replenished with the end of season balance is then determined by performance. Each victory in the league stage is expected to bring in €2.1 million, with a draw worth €700,000. And the higher you finish in the 36-team league, the better you can expect. Finishing on top will bring in around €10 million, with a sliding scale of merit payments all the way down. Clubs ranked in the top eight will receive an additional €2 million as a bonus for qualifying for the round of 16, including €1 million for those ranked ninth to sixteenth.
The 16 teams ranked ninth to 24th will compete in play-offs to decide who advances to the round of 16 for an additional €11 million. Qualify for the quarter-finals and it will be €12.5m, the semi-finals €15m and the final €18.5m. The winning team can expect an additional €6.5 million, as well as an additional €4 million to reach the UEFA Super Cup final in 2025.
Manchester City and Sevilla lined up for the UEFA Super Cup final last August (Claudio Villa/Getty Images)
All of these installments bring increases on the current sums, using a performance-related prize pool expected to amount to €915 million. The prize pool for performance-related payments this season was just €600 million.
The unknowns come from what a club can gain from the new value pillar. How each club is ranked and rewarded will only be known when the composition of the 36 teams is complete. A position will be decided based on where a club is based and that country’s contribution to media revenue (formerly the market pool calculation), as well as the club’s ranking in the UEFA coefficient.
There will be a European and a non-European part splitting revenue from both markets, but topping both charts will likely bring in around €45 million.
Manchester City and Liverpool will be near the top of these distribution indicators, due to their European performances in recent seasons, but Aston Villa, like Newcastle this season, can expect a more modest windfall.
Villa are currently ranked 81st in the UEFA coefficient, but can improve on that ranking by overcoming their semi-final first leg defeat to Olympiacos and qualifying for the Europa Conference League final. Villa’s ranking in the value pillar, should they retain fourth position in the Premier League, would also be improved by England being one of the biggest contributors to overall media revenue.
“The value pillars are yet to be decided, but each club will get a ranking within that which will dictate the amount of money they receive,” adds Plumley. “The Premier League is still likely to win in this argument because of its strength in the market.
“If you were to win everything in the revamped format – taking into account all your league matches, being top of the market pools and going all the way – I have numbers around the $161 million mark. euros, based on UEFA advice.
“The approximate base sum for an English club is at least £50m, the sum we usually attach to Champions League qualification, but there will be room for more next season. That will be more lucrative due to changes in distribution and English clubs will continue to gain thanks to their position in the market.
The last official figures recorded by UEFA are from the 2022-23 season, when Manchester City’s first Champions League title earned them just under €135 million.
Any English club, theoretically ranked in the top half of UEFA’s value pillar, will earn at least €70 million if they were to automatically progress to the knockout stages next season. And all this after having played eight matches.
Manchester City earned €135 million from the Champions League last season (Michael Steele/Getty Images)
Is there more to be done and how does this correspond to the FFP rules?
The majority of revenue associated with Champions League qualification will come from UEFA, but clubs can expect to earn more than just central distributions. There is the guarantee of an extra home match, generating between £2m and £4m in revenue per day. Liverpool, with Anfield’s capacity increased to 61,000, will certainly benefit from their return to the Champions League.
Then there are the benefits of commercial deals, which typically provide additional revenue through access to European football’s elite competition.
And, in this world of increasing financial scrutiny, it all comes in handy. Clubs competing in UEFA competitions next season will not be allowed to spend more than 80% of their income on salaries, transfers and agents in 2024-25, a figure which will fall to 70% by 2025-26.
“The only way to make the new ratios work is to either reduce costs or increase revenues,” Plumley adds. “We know that most clubs don’t want to cut costs, so it’s about increasing revenue. The additional distribution of the Champions League comes into this.
“It’s a guaranteed extra day at home. It’s not just tickets, but also hospitality packages and sponsorship deals. More games means more visibility. It all adds up. Spurs are a good example, they set the benchmark for how much money can be made on match day.
Europa League and Europa Conference League remuneration will also provide the opportunity to increase income next season. The total money paid to Europa League clubs next season will be €565 million, up from €465 million this season. This could earn a club almost €40 million in prize money.
The Europa Conference League, for its part, should start with a central pot of 285 million euros, compared to 235 million euros. West Ham United’s victory in the 2022-23 competition earned them €22 million going all the way. A club the size of Manchester United could earn more than a day’s revenue if they found themselves in a competition they would prefer to avoid.
(Top photo: Michael Steele/Getty Images)
