To those that hath shall be given

The authoritative Swiss Ramble takes a look at Champions League finances so far this season. He states, 'What is clear is that qualification for the Champions League is more lucrative than ever – and this reinforces the financial strength of the elite clubs from the Big Five leagues. Huge money from the CL makes qualification more likely, which delivers more cash.'

'As an illustration of how much a club could potentially earn in total, let’s take Manchester City as a hypothetical. If they won the Champions League, winning all their group stage games (and the other English clubs were eliminated in the last 16), they would receive an incredible €134m. The maximum amount a club can earn from the Champions League (excluding TV pool and coefficient) is a substantial €82.5m, which is 44% (€25.3m) higher than the previous cycle’s €57.2m.'

Barcelona have the highest Champions League 2019/20 revenue to date in Spain with €81m, due to earning the most prize money and having the highest TV pool. Followed by Real Madrid €75m (best UEFA coefficient of all the clubs in Europe), Atletico Madrid €73m and Valencia €55m.

Spain have benefited the most from the introduction of the UEFA coefficient payment, thanks to their very successful record in Europe. In fact, Spanish clubs have three of the four highest rankings: Real Madrid 1st (€35m), Barcelona 2nd (€34m) and Atletico Madrid 4th (€32m).

Manchester City have the highest Champions League 2019/20 revenue to date in England with €78m, due to earning the most prize money and having the highest TV pool. Close behind are Liverpool €76m and Chelsea €73m (with the best English UEFA coefficient), though Tottenham Hotspur lag behind with €58m. Their Champions League revenue is adversely impacted by having the least successful record of English clubs in group stage, the lowest UEFA coefficient (based on last 10 years) and finishing 4th in 2018/19 Premier League (smallest TV pool).

Bayern Munich’s €82m is the highest Champions League 2019/20 revenue to date in Germany, due to earning the most prize money, having the best UEFA coefficient and highest TV pool. There is a big gap to Borussia Dortmund €63m, RB Leipzig €43m and Bayer Leverkusen €37m.

Juventus’ €80m is the highest Champions League 2019/20 revenue to date in Italy, due to earning the most prize money, having the best UEFA coefficient and highest TV pool. There is a big gap to Napoli €59m, Inter €41m and Atalanta €40m.

Paris Saint-Germain have the highest Champions League 2019/20 revenue to date in France with €75m, due to earning the most prize money, having the best UEFA coefficient and highest TV pool. Followed by Lyon €57m and Lille €27m.

Inter €41m earned more than Atalanta €40m, despite not reaching the last 16, entirely due to having a higher UEFA coefficient (€17m vs. €3m), which shows how this new distribution model protects the traditional large clubs against the up-and-coming teams. [You may recall that Arsene Wenger was very proud of his UEFA coefficient: I think he would like to have paraded it round Islington].

The UEFA coefficient is based on performances over 10 years, including bonus points for winning UEFA tournaments. The €585m pot is divided into shares with each worth €1.108m, so the highest ranked club (Real Madrid) gets €35.5m and the lowest (Slavia Prague) €1.1m.

The Swiss Ramble notes, 'Looking at how Champions League revenue is distributed in the current cycle, the importance of the UEFA coefficient is evident. the TV pool is much less important than it was before. This rewards historically successful clubs rather than those with larger national TV rights deals.'

In 2019/20 each of the 32 clubs qualified for the Champions League group stage gets €15.25m plus €2.7m for a win and €900k for a draw. Additional prize money for each further stage reached: last 16 €9.5m, quarter-final €10.5m, semi-final €12m, final €15m and winners €19m.

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The Political Economy of Football V2

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