Atletico tops Europa League’s revenue generators
17 Jul 2012
Atletico de Madrid earned Eur10.52 million from its victory in the 2011-12 UEFA Europa League final, almost six times less than Chelsea secured for its Champions League triumph, according to figures released by European football’s governing body.
UEFA said that it distributed a total of Eur150.36 million to teams playing in the competition last season. The revenue generated by the centralised marketing of the Europa League was redistributed among the 48 clubs taking part from the group stage onwards, as well as the eight clubs that joined in the round of 32 after finishing third in their Champions League groups. Atletico defeated fellow Spanish Primera Division team Athletic Bilbao 3-0 in May’s final, with the runner-up walking away with Eur9.52 million from its run in the competition. However, the financial gulf to the Champions League was again demonstrated as Chelsea’s triumph netted the club Eur59.4 million in revenue, while runner-up Bayern Munchen earned a total of Eur41.73 million.
Each of the 48 clubs in the Europa League’s group stage earned a participation bonus of Eur640,000, plus a bonus of Eur60,000 per group game played, which meant that every club received Eur1 million, irrespective of their results. Each participant in the round of 32 received an extra Eur200,000, with further progress being rewarded by payments of Eur300,000 for advancing to the round of 16, Eur400,000 for the quarter-finals and Eur700,000 for the semi-finals. Atlético earned an additional Eur3 million for winning the final in Bucharest, with Bilbao receiving Eur2 million.
In addition, Eur60 million in prize money came from the television market pool and was shared out according to a variety of factors, including the proportional value of an individual club’s national TV market. The value of UEFA’s Europa League rights deals in Germany and Turkey allowed clubs from these two countries to occupy the remainder of the competition’s top revenue generators for 2011-12. Bundesliga quarter finalists Schalke 04 (Eur10.5 million) and Hannover 96 (Eur8.43 million) took second and fifth spots, while Turkish Super Lig club Besiktas came in fourth (Eur8.85 million) despite being knocked out in the Round of 16.
