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Which club has made the most money from Europe?

The authoritative Swiss Ramble asks which clubs have benefitted most from European competition over the past decade.  Real Madrid have earned the most TV money from UEFA competitions in the last 10 years, being the only club to break through the billion Euros barrier with €1,021m. Four other clubs have received more than €800m in this period: Paris Saint-Germain €974m, Manchester City €935m, Bayern Munich €935m and Barcelona €836m.

Half of the top six are from La Liga, as Atletico Madrid are in sixth place with €761m. The next highest English clubs are further back, namely Liverpool €725m, Chelsea €589m, Manchester United €537m, Arsenal €480m and Tottenham €429m.

As might be expected, the so-called Big Six English clubs have received the lion’s share of UEFA TV money in the last 10 years, amounting to €3.7 bln or 90% of the English distribution.  Manchester City have been by far the most successful English club in Europe with their €935m being €110m more than the next highest English club, Liverpool €725m. There is then a sizeable gap to Chelsea €589m, Manchester United €537m, Arsenal €480m and Tottenham €429m.

The clubs earning most outside the Big Six are Leicester City €123m and Aston Villa €100m, both boosted by a single appearance in the Champions League, and West Ham €71m, which included a victory in the Conference League.

Manchester City

Manchester City’s performance last season in the Champions League was their worst for many years, as they only reached the knockout stage, earning €76m in the process.  However, they received north of €100m in each of the previous four seasons, including a club record €135m in 2022/23 when they beat Inter to win their first ever Champions League.

Despite last season’s blip, City’s €549m in the last five years was comfortably the highest in England and also the third best in Europe.

Liverpool

Liverpool have been the seventh most successful team in Europe in the last five years, earning an impressive €415m, including €118m for reaching the Champions League final in 2021/22. Their income was hit by only qualifying for the Europa League in 2023/24, otherwise they would have been ranked even higher.

The preceding 5-year period included victory against Tottenham in 2018/19 to win the Champions League for the sixth time, as well as reaching two more finals (the Champions League in 2017/18 and the Europa League in 2015/16), though they missed out on Europe altogether in 2016/17.

Chelsea

Chelsea’s performance in the last five years has been a bit of a mixed bag, though they still had the third best earnings in England with €329m. Their success in the 2020/21 Champions League, when they defeated Manchester City, was worth €120m, followed by two seasons when they reached the quarter-finals, delivering an average of €94m.

However, they failed to qualify for Europe in 2023/24, while their victory in last season’s Conference League only secured them €22m.  Nevertheless, their total in the last five years was still more than the €259m income in the preceding 5-year period, when they won the 2018/19 Europa League.

Manchester United

Manchester United’s record in Europe in the last five years, when they qualified three times for the Champions League and twice for the Europa League, was very similar to the preceding 5-year period.

Income increased from €250m to €287m, mainly due to the higher TV rights, though United did reach the Europa League final on two occasions, losing to Villarreal in 2020/21 and Tottenham last season.

Their best season financially was back in 2018/19, when they earned €93m for reaching the Champions League quarter-final, while they got a total of €80m in 2020/21, as a disappointing Champions League group stage was supplemented by reaching the Europa League final.

Arsenal

Arsenal’s European TV earnings have been badly hit by not qualifying for the Champions League in the six seasons between 2017/18 and 2022/23, including one season when they weren’t in Europa at all.

Therefore, the return to the Champions League has been very important financially, earning them €212m in the last two seasons, including €118m in 2024/25 when they reached the semi-finals, before being eliminated by eventual winners Paris Saint-Germain.

Tottenham Hotspur

Tottenham had by far the lowest earnings of the Big Six in the last five years with just €136m, even though they won the Europa League last season, which earned them €41m. This was largely because they did not compete in Europe in 2023/24, while they only got €9m for the brief Conference League adventure in 2021/22.

This was a steep decline from the €293m they received in the preceding 5-year period, when they not only qualified for the Champions League four times, but reached the final in 2018/19, which was worth €102m.

Spain

Three Spanish clubs have benefited from qualifying for the Champions League for all of the last 10 seasons. In particular, Real Madrid’s €1.0 bln income is more than any other club in Europe, which makes perfect sense, given they won the Champions League no fewer than five times in this period.

Barcelona €836m and Atletico Madrid €761m also earned huge sums, followed by Sevilla €417m, who won the Europa League three times in the last decade. Villarreal and Valencia also did reasonably well with €195m and €147m respectively, followed by Real Sociedad €123m.

 

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