a golden goose for committed clubs

The Champions League, in its new format, begins on Tuesday, with for the first time in history, four French clubs are involved in C1. A competition that could earn them several tens of millions of euros.

This was one of UEFA’s promises to change the Champions League.”We are convinced that the chosen formula is harmonious, that it will improve the balance of the competitions and ensure solid revenues that can be redistributed“, said UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin in a statement on May 11, 2022. On the eve of the start of the new Champions League season, unprecedented in its format, with more matches, franceinfo: sport takes stock of the possible gains for the clubs. Paris, Monaco, Brest and Lille could receive significant sums.

European competitions (Champions League, Europa League, Conference League and the Super Cup) will bring in a gross revenue of €4.4 billion to UEFA, according to figures from the European football body. Not all of the winnings will be directly distributed to the individual clubs. Indeed, the clubs only receive 75% of the profits, with the rest being reserved for the UEFA Solidarity Fund (for clubs not competing in European competitions), the European Football Development Programme and various associations.

In total, 3.317 billion euros are reserved for the clubs, including 2.467 billion euros for those competing in the Champions League (compared to 2.032 billion euros the previous season with the old formula, an increase of more than 21%).

The 36 competing teams are already guaranteed, even before playing, to receive at least the “entry fees”, i.e. 18.62 million euros. Each result then counts for performance bonuses. In the group stage, 2.1 million euros are paid per victory, 700,000 euros per draw. Income is then allocated according to the final ranking of the group stage. The last will receive 275,000 euros, while the highest ranked will receive 36 million euros.

In addition to these winnings, there are those linked to the rest of the journey. In the event of qualification for the play-offs (teams ranked between 9th and 24th place), UEFA will pay one million euros per club, then 11 million for qualification for the round of 16. For the eight clubs qualified directly for the round of 16 after the group stage, they will receive two million euros. A passage to the quarter-finals will bring 12.5 million, 15 million for the semi-finals and 18.5 million for the final. The winner of the 2024-2025 trophy will receive, in addition, 6.5 million euros.

In total, in the event of a perfect run with only victories from start to finish, the champion team could pocket a jackpot of 116 million euros (compared to 85 million last season). Conversely, a team that does not score any points in the eight group matches is still guaranteed to win 18.89 million euros (entry fee + “bonus” at the end of the group stage). To this income, we must also add those linked to the “market pool”, that is to say sums that depend on the value of the national television market and the coefficients of the clubs. 853 million euros will be distributed to the clubs on this criterion. Not to mention the income generated by ticket sales in the stadiums, with for each team, four matches played at home (compared to three in the previous formula).

With a minimum of two additional matches in the group stage (eight matches this season, compared to six in the previous format) and four in total for the play-off teams (those qualified between 9th and 24th place will have to play a sort of round of 16), the new format multiplies the number of matches, and therefore the income. But the players will have to play more in an already busy season, with risks to their health already being raised by the unions.