Chelsea are a power player in European football’s financial landscape and, thanks to a UEFA revenue distribution system weighted in their favour, can expect to remain so in perpetuity.
After finishing 6th in the league phase of this season’s Champions League and qualifying for the round of 16, Chelsea have earned around £80m in prize money, per estimates from finance analyst Swiss Ramble.
The majority of that – around £50m, give or take – was guaranteed before a ball was kicked. And given that the Premier League is likely to have five spots in the Champions League more often than not going forward, that’s £50m revenue that BlueCo will be targeting most seasons.
Todd Boehly, Behdad Eghbali and the rest of the BlueCo clan must, of course, ensure that the club operates within the terms of their settlement agreement with UEFA for breaching spending rules.
Simon Jordan met Behdad Eghbali and says he’s one of the smartest and capable people he’s ever met in football 👀
Thoughts?
Simon Jordan on Behdad Eghbali
Photo by Crystal Pix/MB Media/Getty Images
That will require real, material changes to their recruitment and retention strategy, but Champions League prize money next season – if Liam Rosenior, whose side sit 5th in the Premier League at the time of writing, can deliver it – would significantly soothe any compliance anxieties.
It’s not just prize money, either. The new format, now in its second year, delivers at least four matchdays at Stamford Bridge, where Champions League nights can yield up to £5m.
Todd Boehly, Co-Owner of Chelsea looks on following the UEFA Women's Champions League match between Chelsea FC and Real Madrid CF at Stamford Bridge on October 08, 2024 in London, England.
Photo by Harriet Lander – Chelsea FC/Chelsea FC via Getty Images
The new-look Champions League traces its origins back to the European Super League, which Chelsea, along with the rest of the so-called ‘Big Six’ and half a dozen other blue-chip clubs launched and promptly abandoned in April 2021.
And while there has been plenty of water under the Bridge in that time, as well as a takeover that brought about the end of the Roman Abramovich era, Chelsea are – according to one expert – now benefiting from the plans that saw them so heavily scrutinised five years ago.
Real Madrid’s Super League holdout has benefited Chelsea financially, says Kieran Maguire
Late last week, it was announced that Real Madrid – the last remaining Super League club – had struck an agreement with UEFA to end their attempts to revive the breakaway competition.
With Barcelona and Juventus, Real Madrid launched the organisation A22 Sports Management in September 2022 with the aim of revising the Super League plans and making them more palatable to fans. A22 said that they had spoken with a number of European clubs, including all of the superpowers in England, about their ambitions and had received positive feedback.
However, the introduction of the Independent Regulator for English Football by the UK government, which has the power to block clubs from joining breakaway competitions, all but killed any lingering ambitions the Big Six clubs may or may not have harboured to activate Super League 2.0.
A general view outside the stadium prior to the UEFA Women's Champions League match between Chelsea FC and Real Madrid CF at Stamford Bridge on October 08, 2024 in London, England.
Photo by Mike Hewitt/Getty Images
But as University of Liverpool football finance lecturer Kieran Maguire explains, Real Madrid’s obstinance and the threat of another breakaway competition may have been the main reason UEFA agreed to switch up the Champions League format, as well as its financial distribution system, from which Chelsea benefit.
“It’s interesting that UEFA and Real Madrid are reaching an agreement,” he told the Chelsea Chronicle.
“Does that cover a financial settlement to Real Madrid from UEFA to compensate for the way they have been funding A22 and all of the lobbying they have been doing?
“Chelsea will be delighted because six into four Champions League slots doesn’t go. Six into five, as it is likely to be most years from now on, is better. And that is a direct consequence of the threat of Super League which Real Madrid have been using to extract more concessions from UEFA in recent years. It’s classic sleight-of-hand which Chelsea will be thanking them for.
“It was also interesting to hear Todd Boehly’s comments on the Super League a couple years ago where he said he wasn’t anti-Super League. But he wasn’t slamming the door in a way that many fans would have liked. Similarly, we saw Sir Jim Ratcliffe – who bid for Chelsea before BlueCo’s takeover – describe it as an experiment rather than an abomination.”
Chelsea’s Club World Cup incentive
As world champions Chelsea are well aware, the Champions League is also the pathway to another revamped competition: FIFA’s Club World Cup.
Chelsea earned about £85m for winning the inaugural edition of the new quadrennial tournament in the United States last summer.
Their performance in Europe over the next few years will dictate whether they are there again in 2029.
Plenty of Chelsea representation at the World Cup 🏆
Who has the best chance of winning football's biggest prize?
Robert Sanchez, Cole Palmer and Malo Gusto celebrate a Chelsea goal vs Liverpool
Photo by Visionhaus/Getty Images
England – Cole Palmer, Reece James
France – Malo Gusto, Wesley Fofana*
Spain – Marc Cucurella, Robert Sanchez*
Argentina – Enzo Fernandez, Alejandro Garnacho
Brazil – Joao Pedro, Estevao Willian
Portugal – Pedro Neto
could go*
The finances of the tournament were heavily scrutinised, with Saudi Arabia effectively inflating the prize money by investing £1bn in DAZN, who paid FIFA a similar sum for the broadcast rights. Whether FIFA will be able to achieve a similar prize money pot for the next edition remains to be seen.
It has been reported that FIFA could potentially change the competition rules to allow more clubs from a single nation to compete at the tournament, which would improve Chelsea’s odds of being one of the English teams to make it.
FIFA have also reportedly made overtures to the Premier League about hosting the tournament in England, which would add another incentive – as if one was needed – for Chelsea to qualify.
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