The Champions League market pool is something that everyone at the clubs involved talks about, but the actual amount is not known until long after the end of the season, so much so that the exact distribution of the last edition, the one won by Real Madrid in Paris, has not yet even been announced.
It is not usually announced until May of the following year, although sometimes it coincides with the UEFA congress, which in this case is in April.
What seems clear, and we’re talking in estimates here, is that Real Madrid could break all Champions League revenue records this season and reach 140 million euros if they win the whole thing.
That’s because the market pool formula means that part of the Champions League revenue is distributed among all clubs from the same country, but Real Madrid are the only Spanish side to have advanced past the group stage.
In previous years, for example, Juventus were the only Italian team in the knockout rounds and, even without winning the title, the Bianconeri were the team that took the most money, as happened in 2015, reaching 89m euros compared to the 61m euros of champions Barcelona.
What is UEFA’s Champions League money distribution criteria?
The formula applied by UEFA in this distribution looks at:
- Half of the amount representing the value of each market will be distributed among the clubs according to their performance in the previous national championship. The division in the below table shall be applied among the clubs of any given association.
- The other half of the amount representing the value of each market shall be paid in proportion to the number of matches played by each club in the Champions League 2022/23.
- Whenever a club from an association represented by one or more clubs in the group stage of the Champions League is eliminated in any of the qualifying rounds, 10 percent of that association’s market share shall be deducted and allocated to the eliminated club.
The different amounts that are distributed from the market pool on a club-by-club basis can only be calculated once all contracts are finalized and not before the end of the competition, as the exact amount for each club depends on these other factors:
- The actual final amount in the market pool
- The composition of the field of clubs participating in the 2022/23Champions League.
- The number of clubs from any given association competing in the 2022/23 season in the Champions League.
- The final position of each competing club in its previous national championship season.
- The performance of each club in the 2022/23 Champions League.
- The amounts distributed by UEFA.
In the current edition UEFA is distributing 2,032m euros. That’s 15.6m euros for participating in the group stage, 2.8m euros for each win, 930,000 euros for a draw, 9.6m euros for being in the round of 16, 10.6m euros for the quarter-finals, 12.5m euros for the semi-finals, 15.5m euros for the final and another 4.5m euros for lifting the cup.
What is the difference from other seasons? Well, Real Madrid were the only Spanish team in the last 16 and the percentage of the market pool goes entirely to the club, with the added bonus of being the LaLiga champion.
So far, they have earned 47.9m euros for the sporting successes achieved so far and, on top of that, they should earn via the corresponding UEFA coefficient according to what has been done in the last decade.
The higher the coefficient, the more points. And each point, with a maximum of 32, gives each club 1.1m euros.
In the last Champions League, without counting the market pool, Real Madrid earned 110.1m euros, while in this one the figure could shoot up, as at the moment it could already be around 75m euros.