Chelsea Guaranteed Record Euro TV Money

Chelsea Football Club has guaranteed themselves the largest-ever TV money windfall from the Champions League after beating Barcelona on Tuesday night to make the final in Munich. The club will earn at least £45m – with a further £2.8m to come if they win the trophy – from UEFA’s payments of Television money alone.

Clubs then have the potential to double that income from ticket sales, sponsorship and merchandise.

Last season, Manchester United broke the record pay-out of Champions League television money at £43.5m, but this year earned just £28m as a result of failing to qualify for the knockout stages.

Arsenal’s earnings were £22.7m this year were £2m less than the previous season, while Manchester City were awarded £21.3m – highlighting the difference between a Champions League campaign and a Europa League campaign, for which they earned just £4.5m last year.

If Chelsea win the final and finish outside of the top four in the Premier League, they will take the place of the fourth-placed team – currently Newcastle – in next season’s Champions League. Whatever the outcome, it will come as a major blow of at least £20m whichever side misses out.

The four English clubs have been top of the Champions League payments for years due to the size of the TV deals paid by Sky and ITV, and collectively earned a total of £130m in television money from the competition this season.

However, that total is £13m less than last season due to poorer results from English teams.

UEFA calculates the distribution based on participation and performance bonuses, and half on TV market share.

Each club in the group stage gets a £3.2m participation payment plus £450,000 for each group match played. A further £650,000 is paid for each group win or £325,000 for a draw.

A place in the round of 16 earns £2.45m, the quarter-finals £2.7m, and the semis £3.5m, with £4.6m to the losing finalist and £7.4m to the winner.