The total prize money on offer for teams in the expanded Champions League format starting next season will be as much as €155 million.
This is detailed in today’s print edition of Milan-based newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport, via FCInterNews. The newspaper also note that the potential for gate receipt earnings has also risen significantly.
Starting next season, 36 teams will compete in the Champions League rather than 24.
It is a change that has been in the works for several years.
UEFA has decided to expand the format for Europe’s top club competition starting in the 2024-25 campaign.
There are naturally good and bad sides to these changes.
Many have taken issue with the prospect of more matches crammed into an already intense club fixture list, with the probable toll on players’ bodies.
But on the other hand, more matches and more teams means more opportunities for revenues.
And this could certainly benefit the participating teams on a financial level.
Champions League Prize Money Rises To As Much As €155M Per Team
Last season, Inter enjoyed a very successful season in Europe on a financial level.
Aside from the prestige of playing in the final of such an illustrious competition, the Nerazzurri’s run to the final of the competition brought with it over €100 million in prize money.
That is before considering the significant windfall from gate receipts.
Inter earned tens of millions of euros from knockout matches against the likes of Porto, Benfica, and AC Milan at the San Siro.
But starting next season, the potential financial rewards on offer will be even higher.
As the Gazzetta note, the total prize money to be distributed among all the teams in the Champions League will go up from €2 billion to €2.5 billion next season.
Even with twelve teams entering the fray, that will entail a big increase for the most successful teams.
Every single club will earn a minimum of €18.6 million just for participating. That is up from €15.6 million currently.
And with other automatic payments, that would in reality be €20.3 million for each club.
The bonuses for winning individual matches will actually go down, from €2.8 million per match to €2.1 million. But on the other hand, there will be more matches.
The prize money for reaching the round of sixteen will rise from €9.6 million to €11 million.
And then the bonuses for reaching the quarterfinals, semifinals, and final will be €12.5 million, €15 million, and €20 million respectively. The team to win the competition will receive prize money of €25 million.
Beyond that, there is the share of the “market pool.” That amount will slightly favour the Premier League as the most successful league.
Therefore, only English teams would be able to receive the hypothetical maximum amount of €155 million from participation in a single season of the Champions League.
However, teams from other leagues wouldn’t be too far away.
Then, there is also the matter of extra potential gate receipt earnings. With more matches to play, teams can earn more from ticket sales for those matches.
