As well memorable Villa Park nights playing the elite of European football, Aston Villa will also be in line for a major financial boost that grows ever larger the further they progress in next season’s Champions League.
The club’s delighted players looked on as Tottenham were beaten by title-hopefuls Manchester City on Tuesday, mathematically ensuring Villa’s fourth-place finish in the top-flight – and qualification for next season’s Champions League.
And now Unai Emery and Villa chiefs will be ecstatic over the prospective game-changing prize money that will land in the club’s pocket from a gargantuan prize pot of €3.317bn (£2.850bn). And this is just for featuring in the competition. There is even more money to be had for getting to the Allianz Arena final in 2025 and winning the entire thing.
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To take home the maximum cash prizes, they must simply beat the teams put in front of them. According to UEFA, this is the full breakdown of Champions League prize money for the competition’s updated format which launches in 2024/25…
League Phase
For the 36 clubs that make it into the revamped league phase of the Champions League, which replaces the current group stage, there is a total €670m (£575m) to be shared equally. Villa are therefore entitled to €18.62m (£16m) . There are then eight matches in this round to play, with the bonuses set at €2.1m (£1.8m) per win or €700k (£601k) per draw.
After eight matches, this will form an overall league table featuring all 36 teams involved. Referred to as ‘shares’, the higher the finishing place the more ‘shares’ a club will receive. One share is €275k (£236k) , therefore, the 36th-placed side would take home one share – €275k (£236k) – from the league system, whilst the team that finishes top wins 36 shares, or €9.9m (£8.5m) .
Additionally, the clubs that place between first and eighth in the league will be given a €2m (£1.7m) bonus, and those placed ninth through to 16th will be awarded an extra €1m (£859k) .
Knockout Stages
Should they progress this far, Villa will be in the hat for further lucrative cash prizes. This begins with the play-off round, with teams bagging €1m (£859k) for qualifying. To play in this round, a team must place between ninth and 24th in the league system.
The league system’s top eight teams plus the eight that progress from the play-offs will be awarded €11m (£9.4m) each just for reaching the round of 16.
Qualification for the quarter-finals earns a club €12.5m (£10.7m) , qualification for the semi-finals earns a club €15m (£12.8m) , and lastly for reaching the grand final in Munich, the prize is €18.5m (£15.8m) .
Finally, the competition’s winner earns €6.5m (£5.5m) for lifting the trophy, and would later earn €4m (£3.4m) for competing in the following season’s UEFA Super Cup. They would face the winner of next season’s Europa League, with the winner getting €1m (£1m) .
Maximum earnings and TV rights
Based on the above figures, the maximum winnings Villa can take from next season’s Champions League is €72.3m (£62.1m) . For this they would have to finish top of the league phase having won all eight matches, then gone on to win the final.
This is also without taking into account the television revenue for gracing the Champions League stage. UEFA have predicted a 33 percent rise in TV rights income for the new 36-team format, which will see an increase from 125 to 189 matches per season.
By those calculations, some clubs could earn north of €35m (£30m) in addition to their prize money.
