UEFA details club competitions distribution system

016 - Enhanced solidarity payments available to clubs and leagues

UEFA today announced the detailed financial distribution system for its club competitions for the 2015-18 cycle. The amounts available to the participating clubs and to solidarity payments have tremendously increased from the 2012-15 cycle.

A new distribution system has been adopted by UEFA, in close cooperation with the European Club Association (ECA). All revenues of the two competitions will for the first time be centralised into one single pot, with the redistribution to participating clubs based on a fixed ratio of 3.3:1 between UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League. During the current 2012-15 cycle, with two separate revenue and distribution pots and no set ratio established between the two competitions, clubs in the UEFA Europa League receive about €1 every €4.3 received by clubs in UEFA Champions League.

“UEFA is really pleased that the new distribution system not only provides for a substantial rise in monies received by clubs participating in the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League, but also strengthens UEFA’s solidarity principle, namely ensuring an even more substantial increase in solidarity payments to clubs,” said UEFA General Secretary Gianni Infantino. “In this way, the new system provides a better deal for everyone, especially those clubs which did not qualify to the group stage of either of the two UEFA club competitions. This is a perfect example of the proper implementation of the solidarity principle which forms an essential part of UEFA’s key values.”

UEFA Champions League

The global forecasted pot available per season for distribution to clubs in the UEFA Champions League amounts to €1.257bn.

Clubs involved in the play-offs will receive €50m: €2m to each play-offs winner and €3m to the eliminated clubs.

The amount of €1.207bn available to the clubs from the group stage onwards will be split as usual between fixed amounts and market pool. However the market pool will be reduced from 45% to 40% of the total and fixed amounts increased accordingly to 60%.

Fixed amounts (€724.4m)

Each of the 32 clubs involved in the group stage will receive a group stage allocation of €12m.

On top of this, there will be performance bonuses: €1.5m for every win and €500k for every draw in the group stage.

The teams playing in the round of 16 will receive €5.5m each, the quarter-finalists €6m each and the semi-finalists €7m each. The UEFA Champions League winners will receive €15m and the runners-up €10.5m, inclusive of their ticketing revenue share.

A club could receive, at best, €54.5m, not counting the play-offs and the market pool share.

UEFA Champions League

Group stage fee €12m

Group stage performance €1.5m win / €500k draw

Round of 16 €5.5m

Quarter-finals €6m

Semi-finals €7m

Final €15m winners / €10.5m runners-up

In addition, the winners of the 2015 UEFA Super Cup can expect to receive €4m and the runners-up €3m.

Market pool (€482.9m)

The amount of €482.9m will be distributed according to the proportional value of each TV market represented by the clubs taking part in the UEFA Champions League (group stage onwards) and be split among the clubs participating from a given association.

In accordance with the existing system, half of the amount representing the value of each market will be split among the clubs based on their performance in the previous domestic league championship and the other half will be paid in proportion to the number of matches played by each team in the 2015/16 UEFA Champions League.

Each time that a club of an association represented by one or more clubs in the UEFA Champions League group stage is eliminated in the play-offs, 10% of the respective association’s market pool share will be allocated to the eliminated club. This is a new arrangement, which was not contemplated in the distribution system beforehand.

UEFA Europa League

The amount available every season for clubs participating in the UEFA Europa League as from the group stage onwards is forecasted at €381m in the 2015-18 cycle, compared to €233m in the 2012-15 cycle, thus representing a very substantial increase of around 65%.

This amount will be distributed to participating clubs on a 60:40 basis between fixed amounts and market pool, as applied already in the 2012-15 cycle.

Fixed amounts (€228.6m)

Each of the 48 clubs involved in the group stage will receive a group stage allocation of €2.4m.

On top of this, there will be performance bonuses: €360k for every win and €120k for every draw in the group stage. The winners of the groups will receive a qualification bonus of €500k and the runners-up of €250k.

The teams playing in the round of 32 will receive €500k each, the teams playing in the round of 16 will receive €750k each, the quarter-finalists €1m each and the semi-finalists €1.5m each. The UEFA Europa League winners will receive €6.5m and the runners-up €3.5m, inclusive of their ticketing revenue share.

A club could receive, at best, €15.31m, not counting the market pool share.

UEFA Europa League

Group Stage fee €2.4m

Group Stage performance €360k win / €120k draw

KO Qualification bonus €500k winners/€250k runners-up

Round of 32 €500k

Round of 16 €750k

Quarter-Finals €1m

Semi-Finals €1.5m

Final €6.5m winners / €3.5m runners-up

Market pool (€152.4m)

The amount of €152.4m will be distributed according to the proportional value of each TV market represented by the clubs taking part in the UEFA Europa League (group stage onwards) and be split among the clubs participating from a given association.

In accordance with the existing system, half of the amount representing the value of each market will be split among the clubs based on their performance in the previous domestic season and the other half will be broken down into as many shares as rounds of the competition and distributed to the clubs participating in the different rounds of the UEFA Europa League.

Solidarity payments to clubs not qualified to the group stages

An enhanced distribution system for solidarity payments for clubs not competing in the UEFA Champions League or UEFA Europa League group stage has also been adopted by UEFA for the 2015-18 cycle. The distribution to clubs participating in the qualification phases of either competition (except those qualifying to the group stage of the UEFA Champions League, which will not be entitled to these solidarity payments) will represent 3.5% of the overall revenues. An amount of at least €78.6m will be distributed, compared to €47.5m in the 2012-15 cycle, thus representing an increase of around 60%.

Clubs eliminated prior to the group stage will receive the following amounts per round: €200k in the first qualifying round, €300k in the second qualifying round and €400k in the third qualifying round (this latter, if not involved in the UEFA Champions League play-offs). In addition, any domestic champion not qualified for the group stage of the UEFA Champions League will receive €250k.

In the UEFA Europa League, these solidarity payments will amount to: €200k in the first qualifying round, €210k in the second qualifying round, €220k in the third qualifying round and €230k in the play-offs (this latter, if not qualified to the UEFA Europa League group stage).

Solidarity payments to clubs not qualified for UEFA club competitions

The solidarity payments to non-participating clubs via their national associations and/or leagues, formerly amounting to 6.5% of the UEFA Champions League clubs’ share, will now represent 5% of the overall gross revenues of the two competitions. A total of €112m will be distributed to national associations and/or leagues for their clubs, compared to €82.4m in the 2012-15 cycle, thus representing an increase of more than 35%. 80% of this amount will be distributed to national associations and/or leagues with at least one club participating in the UEFA Champions League group stage and 20% to national associations and/or leagues without participating clubs. Only clubs not participating in the group stage of either competition will be entitled to a share of these solidarity payments.

Furthermore, the distribution to national associations and/or leagues will no longer be exclusively based on their market value, but 60% of the available amounts will be distributed in equal shares amongst all national associations and/or leagues and only 40% will follow the market value. This will ensure a fairer distribution of solidarity amounts to European clubs.