Manchester United in line for £70m Champions League windfall if they beat Barcelona at Wembley

EXCLUSIVE
By Wayne Veysey | Chief Correspondent

Manchester United are in line for a record £70 million windfall from their participation in this season’s Champions League if they win the competition, Goal.com can disclose.

United will pull in the bonanza from a combination of Uefa performance-related payments, money from the television market pool and matchday revenue.

The new Premier League champions will receive £49.4m for their contribution this season from Uefa if they beat Barcelona in the final at Wembley on May 28. This is made up of £26.8m for their performances from the group stage onwards and another £22.6m from the TV market pool.

In addition, United have hosted six Champions League matches at Old Trafford this season, each of which generate around £3.2m in revenue, aggregating £19.2m. The two income streams combined add up to a £68.6m pot.

Even if United are defeated by favourites Barcelona next week, as runners-up they will receive £4.6m in prize money from Uefa and the club’s overall windfall will be reduced by only around five per cent to a shade over £65m. The winners at Wembley will get £8m.

However, for some clubs it is better for the finances to lose a final than win one due to contractual bonuses they have to pay out to coaches and players if they become European champions.

Even so, the £68.6m figure does not include the considerable commercial spin-offs that success in the world’s most lucrative competition brings, from avenues such as sponsorship and merchandise sales.

Uefa have disclosed that holders Inter earned £42.9m from the governing body for their 2009-10 exploits and runners-up Bayern Munich £40m.  

The figures are higher for this season because the revenue from the TV market pool, which is distributed according to the proportional value of the national TV market each of the 32 teams represented and where they finished in their domestic league the previous year, is greater.

This explains why 2010 Premier League champions Chelsea have earned £39m in prize money from Uefa this season, while Champions League debutants Tottenham, who came fourth 12 months ago, received £27.3m even though both clubs reached the quarter-final stage.

England’s fourth entrant, Arsenal, who were knocked out by Barcelona in the first knockout round, earned £26.2m.

All of the 32 entrants to this season’s competition are entitled to receive a minimum of £6.3m in accordance with the distribution system, including a basic participation payment of £3.4m plus a further £2.9m from the six match bonuses given per group game. Additionally, performance bonuses were paid in the group stage: £707,000 for every win and £353,000 for every draw.

From there, the 16 teams that reached the first knockout round earned an extra £2.7m, the eight quarter-finalists £2.9m and the four semi-finalists another £3.5m.

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