GENEVA: Champions League winners Real Madrid earned the most prize money from a European club competition last season with €133.7 million ($146.4 million), UEFA said Wednesday.
Madrid’s total included a basic payment for entering the group stage, results bonuses, a share of Spanish broadcasting rights and an extra payment based on clubs’ historical records in UEFA competitions.
Liverpool lost the final to Madrid and were second in the “prize money table” with a total of €120 million ($131.4 million) from UEFA’s total Champions League prize fund of more than €2 billion ($2.2 billion).
Only two other clubs earned nine-figure sums: Bayern Munich got nearly €110 million ($120.4 million) and Manchester City was paid nearly €109 million ($119 million).
Paris Saint-Germain’s loss to Madrid in the round of 16 meant they were paid just €92 million ($100.7 million) by UEFA.
UEFA said the 32 group-stage clubs were paid an average of €61.8 million ($67.7 million) with the lowest payment 23.7 million euros ($26 million) to Moldovan champion Sheriff.
Chelsea were eliminated by Madrid in the quarterfinals and earned €91.9 million ($100.6 million). Chelsea face Madrid again in the quarterfinals this month and risks having no income from UEFA next season while it stands 11th in the English Premier League table.
Barcelona earned €64.6 million ($70.7 million) from the Champions League group stage last season, then an additional 6.4 million euros ($7 million) from switching across to the Europa League knockout rounds. Barcelona lost in the quarterfinals to eventual winners Eintracht Frankfurt.
Frankfurt topped the Europa League payments with €38 million ($41.6 million) and beaten finalist Rangers got €20.7 million ($22.7 million). UEFA shared €235 million ($257 million) in total to clubs paying in the inaugural third-tier Europa Conference League. Title-winning Roma’s €19.2 million ($21 million) was the most any club received.
The 2021-22 season was the first in a new three-year commercial cycle for UEFA club competitions ahead of a revamp and expansion in 2024. Teams will play more games in a single standings table — eight for each of 36 teams in the Champions League — which will replace the traditional group stage.
UEFA is making total deductions from clubs of about €83 million ($91 million) per season to cover rebates to commercial partners for disruption during the pandemic-affected 2019-20 season.
