Club football on the continent is temporarily on hold as a pause associated with national team matches approaches. But very soon, an exciting Eurocup week with prestigious matches of the Champions League, Europa League, and UEFA Conference League will resume. This means that, once again, bets can be placed on the biggest football tournaments. For this, you can Melbet Kenya App download – a mobile application from a reliable bookmaker. In addition to sporting prestige, these tournaments bring substantial financial dividends to participating clubs. Let’s look at the impressive sums being played for in the current competition.
Champions League 2023/24
The Champions League remains the main source of revenue for elite clubs of the Old Continent. In the current season, its total prize fund reached a record €2 billion! Such an impressive amount is explained by the increased value of new television contracts and the attraction of additional sponsorship funds.
Here’s how these colossal prizes are distributed in the current competition:
- Each participant in the group stage receives a starting prize of €15.64 million.
- Victory in the group stage is valued at €2.8 million, a draw – €900,000.
- Advancing to the round of 16 brings clubs €9.6 million each and to the quarter-finals – €10.6 million.
- Semi-finalists are guaranteed €12.5 million each, and finalists – €15.5 million.
- The Champions League winner will also receive an additional €4.5 million in prize money.
Additionally, the top clubs will share €330.3 million from a special marketing pool for broadcasting rights to tournament matches. These funds are distributed proportionally to the popularity and ratings of each club.
It is worth noting that the next edition of the Champions League in 2024/25 will be played in a new revolutionary format with a single league instead of the traditional group stage. This reform, actively promoted by UEFA, is expected to bring even greater financial rewards for participants.
Europa League 2023/24
The second most significant and prestigious Eurocup, the Europa League, also offers substantial prizes for its participants. Its total prize fund in the current competition is €465 million.
The distribution of prize money in the Europa League looks like this:
- Clubs that qualify and reach the group stage receive €3.63 million each.
- Victory in the group stage is valued at €630,000, a draw – €210,000.
- Group winners are awarded an additional prize of €1.1 million, while teams finishing second receive €550,000 each.
- Advancing to the playoffs earns clubs €500,000 each, and reaching the round of 16 brings €1.2 million.
- Quarter-finalists receive €1.8 million each, and semi-finalists – €2.8 million in prize money.
- The Europa League finalist will earn a substantial €4.6 million, and the tournament winner will receive €8.6 million.
Thus, the Europa League winner will pocket over €20 million for the entire tournament journey. For many clubs, these funds become a significant source of income and allow them to strengthen their budgets.
Conference League
The youngest European tournament, the Conference League, was established by UEFA only recently and is in its third season. Yet it already offers impressive prizes for participants.
According to various sources, the total prize fund for the current edition of the Conference League 2023/24 amounts to €235 million, which is 6.7% more than the previous season. With each passing year, these amounts will increase as the number of participating countries grows and new television and sponsorship contracts are secured.
The creation of the Conference League in 2021 aimed at far-reaching goals – to make UEFA’s Eurocup system as inclusive and democratic as possible, giving clubs from as many countries as possible the chance to extend their European seasons.
And this ambitious plan has already begun to materialize! In the inaugural edition of the 2021/22 Conference League, an unprecedented number of participants took part – 184 teams from all 55 UEFA member associations. Moreover, for eight clubs, including representatives from Armenia, Gibraltar, and Estonia, it was their first-ever appearance in the group stage of a Eurocup.
The tournament system of the Conference League is almost identical to the two senior Eurocups – a group stage followed by playoffs to determine the finalists. However, prize payouts here are noticeably more modest than in the Champions League and Europa League. However, for many modest European teams, this is an unprecedented opportunity to test their skills and progress on the international stage.
Overall, the emergence of the Conference League has become a financial stimulus and a means of development for hundreds of clubs across the continent. UEFA plans to continue developing this tournament, increasing its capitalization and prestige. After all, every club, no matter how small, should have the opportunity to dream of winning a Eurocup.
Thus, the prize funds of all three UEFA club tournaments in the current season are impressive in their scale. And with each passing year, these financial peaks will only grow, opening up new horizons and opportunities for European football as a whole.
