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The winner takes it all

The authoritative Swiss Ramble has been working away in his Zurich fastness to provide estimates of Champions League income.  It used to be said that Arsene Wenger liked to parade his Uefa coefficient through the streets of Islington, but one can increasingly see why.

His calculations suggest that nine clubs have already earned more than €75m from the 2021/22 Champions League. Bayern Munich lead the way with €111m, followed by Real Madrid €106m, Manchester City €99m, Atletico Madrid €96m, Chelsea €94m, PSG €94m, Liverpool €92m, Manchester United €81m and Juventus €79m.

The importance of the UEFA coefficient

Looking at how Champions League revenue is distributed, the importance of the UEFA coefficient is clearly evident with the TV pool being much less significant than it was before. This rewards historically successful clubs rather than those with larger national TV rights deals.   The coefficient payment is based on performances in UEFA tournaments over past 10 years, including bonus for winning trophies. so benefits traditional big clubs

Each of the 32 clubs that qualified for the Champions League group stage received a participation fee of €15.64m, which is up 3% from the previous cycle’s €15.25m.

Bayern Munich and Liverpool have earned most prize money with €38.3m, as they won all six games in the group stage, worth €16.8m (€2.8m for each win), plus €1.3m for their share of money left on the table after draws, €9.6m for reaching the last 16 and €10.6m for quarter-final.

The highest TV pool payment is Lille €31m, followed by PSG €28m and Man City €22m. Lille benefit from the French TV pool  being divided between just two clubs.   Their share is higher than PSG as they won Ligue 1 last season. In contrast, Spain’s money is split between five clubs.

The disparity between competitions

Revenue is much smaller in the Europa League, but West Ham have earned €27m for reaching the quarter-finals, including €1.1m bonus for winning their group, while Leicester City get €21m. The high English TV pool is very important to earnings here.

The Zurich guru estimates that Tottenham Hotspur will receive €9m from the Europa Conference League after they went out at the group stage (UEFA having awarded victory to Rennes for a match postponed due to COVID). Leicester City have earned €3m for reaching QF after dropping down from the Europa League.   [Some people interested in football scarcely know that this competition exists].

Comparing English clubs across the European competitions highlights the massive disparity. Champions League representatives have earned between €78m and €96m, at least €50m more than Europa League clubs, who in turn get more than twice as much as those in Europa Conference.

Across the leagues in the EU

Real Madrid have the highest Spanish clubs’ Champions League 2021/22 revenue to date with €102m, due to the best UEFA coefficient (highest in Europe) and most prize money, followed by Atletico Madrid €96m (highest TV pool after winning La Liga last season).   Spain benefit from the UEFA coefficient payment, thanks to successful record in Europe with their clubs filling three of the top five rankings.

Bayern Munich €107m is the highest German clubs’ Champions League 2021/22 revenue, as earned the most prize money, have best UEFA coefficient and highest TV pool. Big gap to other clubs, all eliminated at group stage: Borussia Dortmund €61m, RB Leipzig €44m and Wolfsburg €35m.

Juventus’ €76m is the highest Italian clubs’ Champions League 2021/22 revenue to date, due to having the best UEFA coefficient and earning the most prize money, followed by Inter €63m (highest TV pool after winning Serie A last season), Milan €45m and Atalanta €33m.

Atalanta’s €33m revenue is relatively small, mainly due to a low €5m UEFA coefficient, which shows how this distribution model protects the traditional large clubs against the up-and-coming teams.

Despite their disappointing exit, Paris Saint-Germain have highest French clubs’ Champions League 2021/22 revenue with €90m, due to earning most prize money and the best UEFA coefficient, followed by Lille €67m, boosted by highest TV pool after winning Ligue 1 last season.

Benfica’s €64m is the highest Portuguese clubs’ Champions League 2021/22 revenue to date. Their achievement in reaching the quarter-final means a large gap to Sporting €45m (last 16) and Porto €43m (eliminated at group stage, but best UEFA coefficient).

 

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