GENEVA — This season, leading Premier League teams are significantly increasing their earnings from UEFA Champions League prize money.
For the first time, six English clubs participated in this Champions League season. Following Wednesday’s final matches of the group stage, five of them have qualified directly for the round of 16 by finishing in the top eight of the 36-team table.
Newcastle, who finished in 12th place, is set to take part in the knockout playoffs draw on Friday.
The six English clubs are projected to collectively earn over €500 million ($600 million) in UEFA prize money. Each of the five direct qualifiers from the group stage will receive an additional €2 million ($2.4 million): Arsenal, Liverpool, Tottenham, Chelsea, and Manchester City.
“Each of these teams could easily make around €100 million ($120 million), with even greater amounts for those reaching the semifinals and finals,” said Kieran Maguire, a soccer finance expert and co-host of the Price of Football podcast, in a statement to The Associated Press.
This would result in England receiving over one euro (or dollar) out of every five from UEFA’s total prize pool of approximately €2.5 billion ($3 billion) to be distributed among the 36 Champions League clubs this season.
This financial strength has been key in prompting clubs like Real Madrid, Barcelona, and Juventus to explore the concept of a Super League five years ago to maintain competitiveness. A backlash in England ultimately led to the project’s failure.
A notable indicator of England’s dominance in the Champions League is that Arsenal has achieved a flawless record with eight wins, while Liverpool and Tottenham sit in third and fourth, respectively, despite their struggles in the Premier League.
Liverpool managed to secure victories in four of their last five Champions League matches, including games against Madrid and Inter, yet won only four out of 13 in the Premier League. Meanwhile, Tottenham ranks 14th in the league standings.
Even Newcastle, who is currently the lowest-performing English club in the Champions League, has outperformed three of Spain’s five teams, as well as three out of four from Italy and three of the four from Germany in the group-phase standings.
The situation is further complicated for Spain, as teams like Athletic Club and Villarreal did not even qualify for the 24-team knockout stage. Additionally, Serie A champion Napoli and Eintracht Frankfurt were also eliminated.
Italy’s prospects seem bleak regarding participation in the round of 16, as even their top-ranked club, Inter Milan, which has reached two of the last three Champions League finals, currently sits at 10th in the standings. Juventus ended up in 13th place, while Atalanta is in 15th.
Maguire stated, “This indicates an increasing concentration of wealth among a select group of clubs,” highlighting the impact of long-standing financial advantages derived from the Premier League’s lucrative broadcasting deals.
The substantial prize money awarded annually to each of the 20 Premier League clubs enables even mid-tier and lower-ranked teams to outbid regular Champions League contenders elsewhere in Europe when it comes to transfer fees and wages.
The recent expansion of the Champions League, which introduced additional teams last season, has opened new avenues for English clubs to capitalize on. This change was influenced by pressure from the powerful European Football Clubs group.
Two of the newly added spots are granted to countries achieving the best collective results in prior UEFA competitions. Recent title wins for Tottenham in the Europa League and Chelsea in the Conference League, along with all four English teams, including Aston Villa, advancing to the Champions League knockout stage, secured England’s bonus entry while Spain claimed the other.
Maguire described this bonus system as “rather bizarre,” suggesting it may create a trend of consistently rewarding the Premier League’s fifth-place team in upcoming seasons.
This season, England holds a commanding lead in UEFA’s ranking table, although Poland is emerging as a competitor for a second bonus entry, thanks to impressive performances in the lower-tier Conference League.