The UEFA Champions League is one of the most widely televised sporting events and the most prestigious footballing competition at club level. Any team that is fortunate enough to qualify for the fabled competition will also receive major endorsements that can further advance their means to improve in the product available both on and off the pitch.
A competition that has become synonymous with fans of the sprawling and expansive sport that is football, there is no greater prize for any domestic footballing team to achieve than the UEFA Champions League.
After an initial qualifying round, all 32 selected teams who progressed through to the competition, via their prior season’s league campaign finishes or domestic cup wins, will migrate into the group stage format.
Every team will be fitted into a small league with three other sides that will each in turn play each other twice. The winners and runners-up of the groups will then be eligible to play in the knockout stages of the competition, with the third-place team moving into the secondary European club competition (the UEFA Europa League).
In the knockout stages, the last sixteen sides will be drawn against another in two-legged games that often produce some enticing fixtures against some of the world’s best teams.
This process continues until half the sides remaining are eliminated which will then see a Quarter-final tie between the remaining eight teams and later a semi-final between the final four.
The final two teams left in the competition will then play out in the Champions League final which usually takes place at a venue that UEFA will have selected before the start of the event.
The final itself is just a single game that can go to extra-time, and if necessary, a penalty shoot-out should the two remaining teams be kept in a deadlock past the ninety minutes of regular playing time.
The eventual winner will claim the illustrious trophy and will stake their claim as Europe’s most elite team and as the best team from the overall season across all of Europe’s most esteemed footballing competitions.
This year, fans are already drooling at the prospect of some of the most eagerly anticipated fixtures that could be available as all of world football’s most established talents will battle it out to lift the European Cup.
For any fans who are interested, three sides including Manchester City, Paris Saint-Germain and Bayern Munich are all 5/1 favourites to win the competition this season according to the live Champions League betting odds available on 888 Sport.
Manchester City and PSG in particular are looking to win their first ever European Cup in their club’s history, with Bayern looking to reclaim their grip on the competition after winning the trophy a sixth time in 2020.
Not only does the Champions League provide winners with such an incredible accolade that most sides have struggled to maintain, but teams who qualify can also gain a huge amount of extra prize money that can help raise the club’s profitability and provide future revenue that can be used to invest further in the squads in question.
Importance of Tournament Prize money:
Teams who progress further through the competition will earn a greater outcome from the available prize money that the tournament provides, and with the Champions League being one of the most distinguished sporting events on the planet, there is a gargantuan amount up for grabs for any teams who progress to the latter knockout stages.
For example, teams who exit the competition at the group stage will earn an estimated $18.6million that can be used to a great extent for teams who may need to invest further in their side in the hopes of progressing to a greater stage of the competition, teams will also earn an extra for any group stage wins ($3.3million per win) and draws ($1.1million per draw).
Teams who are eliminated in the first knockout stage will earn $11.6million on top of the amount gain from group stage results, $12.4million from a quarter final exit, $14.6million from the semi-finals and runners-up will pocket $18.3million with the overall winners taking an astounding $23.2million from prize money alone.
While the Champions League is a widely viewed competition, fans may only clamour to watch the biggest and most highly anticipated fixtures, no matter what stage of the competition.
With TV deals playing a major role in the endorsements that club’s gain from the event, more fans will be interested in watching a game that features the likes of Real Madrid, Barcelona, Manchester City and United among others due to their mass following, in comparison to watching teams that don’t predominantly feature in some of the game’s more widely coveted leagues.
These club’s will gain a greater revenue stream from their selective endorsements with TV and media companies being the particular influx of any future income due to more fans tuning in to watch the biggest teams who also feature the most acclaimed names on their payroll.
The Champions League will be turning to a new format in 2024 that will see a slight increase in teams entering the competition, a single league arrangement instead of the numerous smaller group stages with the top eight teams automatically qualifying for the knockout stages and with a number of all other teams entering a play-off format to decide who advances to the next stage.
This new change of arrangement in the competition will likely impact the revenue and prize money available from the competition at a significant rate as the favourites are prone to be capable of advancing into the next stage of the competition, via the automatic promotion, leaving many fans to not feel interested in watching the remaining teams left in the league play-offs.
Being able to qualify for the Champions League is a tremendous feat alone, but further progression and withstanding performances throughout the competition can help build a team’s income from the prize money available and help raise the team to providence with viewers of the sport.
Prize money is vital for teams of different calibre but is still a great asset for any side that is competing at the highest level, meaning that even should a team exit the competition early, they still would have gained a great amount of revenue as they look to compete again in the following season.