Three British clubs earn well in the Europa League

The revenue available for distribution to Europa League clubs has increased by 22% (€100m) from €465m to €565m, which is good going at any time, but especially when domestic broadcasting deals are struggling to deliver any growth or are even falling in value.

Again like the Champions League, the distribution mechanism has been amended, as two of the previous elements, namely the TV pool and UEFA coefficient, have been combined into a new “value pillar”. The maximum amount a club could earn in prize money, including the participation fee, has increased by €9.3m (40%) from €23.4m to €32.7m.

Calculations by the Swiss Ramble suggest that five clubs have already received more than €20m from this season’s Europa League with English clubs filling two of the top three places: Manchester United are first with €22.7m, while Tottenham are third with €21.7m.

The country that has earned most to date from the Champions League is England with €44.4m, ahead of Netherlands €42.4m, followed by Italy €40.7m, Turkey €39.6m, Spain €35.2m and Germany €33.4m.

Manchester United won five games in the league phase, which was worth €2.25m (5 x €450k), and drew three games, which was worth €450k (3 x €150k). As they finished third in the league, this ranking gave them €2.8m, plus another €600k for finishing in the top eight places. Finally, they are guaranteed €1.75m after reaching the last 16. In total, this gives United €7.9m prize money.

The only differences with Tottenham’s €7.6m prize money is one less draw (€150k) and one place lower in the league ranking (€83k).

If Manchester United won the Europa League for the second time that would bring them €42m (£36m at the current exchange rate), which is pretty good, but around €110m less than Liverpool would get if they were to win the Champions League.

Rangers directly qualified for the last 16 after beating Union Saint-Gilloise in their last game of the league phase, which meant that they had the 8th highest prize money of €6.9m. The estimated €6.1m value pillar might be a little on the low side, as the club market value has been based on the 2022/23 TV pool payments, which were very low for Scottish clubs that season. Either way, their €17.3m total earnings were still in the top ten.

Even though revenue in the Europa League is significantly lower than the far more lucrative Champions League, clubs can still earn good money, especially if they progress to the later stages of the competition.

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The Political Economy of Football V2

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