Although Juventus lost 4-1 to Real Madrid in the Champions League final in Cardiff, they still earned more than Real Madrid this season in overall revenue. The Serie A club earned a whopping € 109.2m in revenue – the highest ever – as they became the first club in Europe to smash the €100m barrier.
In contrast, Real Madrid, who became the first club to defend their crown and win back-to-back titles in the UCL era, took home only €80.9m – €28.3m less than the runners-up of the competition.
How Champions League revenue is distributed to each club
In all, approximately €1.3bn was to be shared with all clubs that took part in the Champions League this season. This is a sum total of two different streams:-
1) Fixed amount (based on group stage allocation, performance and qualification bonus): €761.9m
2) Variable amount based on market pool: €507m
The fixed amount is divided into various categories. For example, every team that enters the competition will receive at least €12.7m just for qualifying for the group stage and playing six matches. After that, it is the performance of each club that decides how much more they get in revenue.
For example; each win in the group stage sees a team receive €1.5m. So six wins would see a team net a cool €9m more. Each draw would see them receive just €0.5m.
The teams that reach the knockout stages receive more money as they progress to the next rounds, all the way to the final.
- Qualifying for the Round of 16: €6m - Qualifying for the Quarter-Finals: €6.5m - Qualifying for the Semi-Finals: €7.5m
Once the last two teams reach the final, they receive differing amounts based on who wins. The winners of the competition receive €15.5m while the runners-up receive €11m. This includes the revenue from ticket sales at the venue (usually a neutral venue). Even if a team reaches a final that is being played at their own stadium, the ticket revenue is evenly split among the two teams.
At this stage, Real Madrid and Juventus earned almost the same amount. Neither team lost in the group stages (Real had 3 wins and 3 draws while Juventus had 4 wins and 2 draws). But the difference is nowhere close to €28.3m.
Also read: List of records set and milestones reached in the Champions League final
Where Italian clubs benefited compared to Spanish clubs
While the share of the fixed amount to be paid to each club that took part in the competition was pretty much set in stone when the final two teams were confirmed, the same cannot be said of the variable amount. The market pool is never the same each year and Juventus got lucky because of the lack of other worthy competitors in Italy compared to Spain.
The €507m from the market pool was distributed based on how much of the television market they captured in their respective country. This amount is split among all clubs from each UEFA member association.
The number of teams from the same country qualifying for the latter stages of the competition is a double-edged sword. While it improves the country’s UEFA coefficient, thereby allowing more teams to qualify for the Champions League, it also means that each club from the respective country takes home lesser money from the variable revenue.
However, this will no longer be the case from the 2018/19 with England, Spain, Germany and Italy assured of four spots in the group stages.
In Real Madrid’s case, they received a lot less compared to Juventus due to the progress made by Atletico Madrid, Barcelona and Sevilla. Atletico reached the semi-finals where they lost to Real. Barcelona were knocked out in the quarter-finals by Juventus. Sevilla qualified for the Round of 16 where they were eliminated by Leicester City.
In contrast, Juventus were the only Italian Serie A team to move past the Round of 16. AS Roma had been knocked out even before they reached the group stages as Porto beat them 4-1 on aggregate while Napoli were eliminated in the Round of 16 by Real Madrid thanks to a 6-2 aggregate scoreline. Only three teams from Italy qualify for the Champions League with the third-placed team required to qualify via a playoff.
With Napoli knocked out in the Round of 16, Juventus had no other team to split the market pool with for the quarter-finals, semi-finals and, of course, the final. This is also why Napoli (€65.7m) earned more than Barcelona (€61.3m) and Atletico Madrid (€59.9m) even though the Spanish teams went further in the competition.
| # | CLUB | COUNTRY | REVENUE |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Juventus | Italy | €109.2m |
| 2 | Real Madrid | Spain | €80.9m |
| 3 | Napoli | Italy | €65.7m |
| 4 | Arsenal | England | €62.4m |
| 5 | Barcelona | Spain | €61.3m |
| 6 | Atletico Madrid | Spain | €59.9m |
| 7 | Paris Saint-Germain | France | €56.2m |
| 8 | Bayern Munich | Germany | €55.3m |
| AS Monaco | France | €55.3m | |
| 10 | Borussia Dortmund | Germany | €53.2m |
Data courtesy of UEFA and Calcio Finanza
