The lucrative Champions League race

Qualifying for next season’s Uefa Champions League has never been more lucrative for European football clubs and their wealthy owners.

That’s why Tottenham Hotspur’s victory over Manchester United in the Europa League final in Bilbao on Wednesday was so significant. It provided an alternative route into the Champions League for a club languishing in the lower half of the Premier League.

Spurs claimed their first trophy in 17 years, but the greater reward was a guaranteed place in next season’s Champions League.

Under the newly adopted Swiss format — which incorporated a league phase ahead of the knockout rounds — Europe’s premier competition has become a cash cow for participants. Uefa will distribute more than €2.4bn to the clubs in this season’s tournament, up from €2.0bn in the previous campaign.

While United is considered the struggling crown jewel of Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s sports empire, OGC Nice, another club in the billionaire’s portfolio, still have a chance to play in next season’s Champions League after finishing fourth in Ligue 1.

While Ineos has taken a decisive interest in day-to-day decisions at United, the petrochemicals company placed Nice into a blind trust to appease Uefa over a potential conflict of interest because both teams were in the Europa League this season.

Marseille and Monaco have already guaranteed qualification alongside perennial French champions Paris Saint-Germain, who have the chance to win the tournament for the first time later this month. These three clubs will have a significant financial advantage against domestic rivals because of the collapse in French domestic media rights revenues.

United aren’t the only big club to miss out. AC Milan, seven-time winners of the Champions League, can’t make it. Italian rivals Napoli, Oaktree’s Internazionale and Stephen Pagliuca’s Atalanta have already qualified. Juventus hope to cling on to the fourth and final spot. AS Roma and Lazio are still capable of overtaking Juventus, long owned by the Agnelli family.

In England, the final round of fixtures will decide who joins champions Liverpool and runners-up Arsenal in the Champions League next season.

The stakes are high for Newcastle United, owned by the Saudi sovereign wealth fund, and Chelsea, owned by US investors Clearlake Capital and Todd Boehly, the two teams currently ranked fourth and fifth in the table.

Nottingham Forest, which is owned by ⁠Greek shipping magnate Evangelos Marinakis, aren’t out of the running. Nor are Aston Villa, the team owned by Egyptian billionaire Nassef Sawiris and Fortress Investment co-founder Wes Edens.

In Spain, the matter is settled. La Liga champions Barcelona and runners-up Real Madrid are there, of course. Atlético Madrid, backed by investment firm Ares; member-owned Athletic Club; and Villarreal have also earned their spots.

The same goes for Germany, where Bayern Munich, Bayer 04 Leverkusen, and Eintracht Frankfurt and Borussia Dortmund have already qualified.

As clubs owned by billionaires, private equity firms, and sovereign wealth funds fight for their place in European football’s prime tournament, you can be sure that investors from Wall Street to Riyadh will be keeping score.

Threat of financial calamity removed from Baggies

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The Political Economy of Football V2

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