European soccer is booming.
Hot on the heels of record TV deals and revenue levels in many countries, top European teams -- represented by the European Club Association (ECA) -- have agreed a bumper new deal with European soccer’s governing body UEFA, as over $2.4 billion will be split up between teams competing in the UEFA Champions League and Europa League from the start of next season and 2018.
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Teams competing in the UCL will share $1.29 billion each season, as each team is guaranteed $12.9 million for making the group stage compared to the $9.2 million in guaranteed cash they have been earning. Each team who makes the Europa League group stage will earn $2.58 million per season from the 2015-16 campaign onwards, that is nearly double the figure teams received in 2014-15.
Bayern Munich’s chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge is also the chairman of the ECA and was delighted that the alliance representing Europe’s top teams was able to increase revenue for both of the major club competitions as well as various other financial incentives.
"[This deal] will strengthen the solidarity among the clubs and our sense of responsibility for football,” Rummenigge said. While UEFA’s president Michel Platini added that the ECA were a pleasure to work with during a statement as everything was agreed jovially and amicably. It seems like everybody was happy as the young ECA were also given two seats on UEFA’s policy making executive committee.
Many other deals were also made between the ECA and UEFA, with the governing body agreeing to give clubs $214 million in compensation for their players making national team squads competing in the EURO 2020 competition. Quite remarkable is that the figure of $214 million is likely to be vastly exceeded as eight percent of income from broadcast deals, commercial and ticketing will go direct to the nations competing in 2020 from UEFA.