TBR Football can exclusively share how much money Crystal Palace will miss out on, after the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) upheld UEFA’s decision to demote the Eagles to the Conference League.
Oliver Glasner and his side were expecting to play Europa League football this season after winning the FA Cup last term, only for UEFA to deem Crystal Palace to be a multi-club organisation and therefore unable to play in the same competition as Lyon, due to the presence of John Textor at both clubs.
However, the American sold his shares to Woody Johnson in July, so would have no involvement whatsoever once the competition actually began, while he never really had decisive influence at Selhurst Park anyway – Steve Parish has the final say on decisions.
Nevertheless, the decision has been made, and Adam Williams – Head of Football Finance and Governance Content for GRV Media – can now exclusively inform TBR Football what this means for Crystal Palace financially.
Exclusive: Crystal Palace potentially missing out on £28m due to UEFA decision but have “chance for the perfect revenge”
Williams tells TBR Football: “The maximum possible prize money you can get in the Conference League is €15.4m (£13.3m), whereas in the Europa League, it’s €28.4m (£24.6m), so it’s nearly a 50% drop-off in that respect. That’s for the teams that win those competitions, and win every match in the league phase.
“Meanwhile, the minimum you can earn in prize money in the Europa League is €4.3m (£3.7m), while in the Conference it’s €3.2m (£2.8m). That’s if you lose every match and go out before the knockouts.
“So there isn’t exactly a monumental difference there in terms of the performance-based element of the UEFA money – at least not in terms of the minimum amount. However, there is another element of the distribution: the value pillar.”
What is a value pillar?
Williams continued: “In the Europa League, the ‘value pillar’ element of the distribution mechanism is just under 30% of the total pot, while the Conference League is 20%.
UEFA Conference League logo
Photo by James Gill – Danehouse/Getty Images
“The value pillar is calculated based on the size of the relevant club’s country’s TV deal for UEFA competitions, as well as a club’s five and 10-year coefficients. So, on the one hand, Palace benefit from being lumped in with the rest of the English clubs, because we have one of the biggest UEFA TV deals, but on the other, they suffer because they don’t have a UEFA coefficient to speak of given that it’s their first season in Europe. I’d say they’ll probably be £1m worse off because of being demoted to the Conference League, or thereabouts, in value pillar terms.
“So, as a minimum, the difference between the two competitions is only about £1.8m. As a maximum, it’s about £23m. If Palace were an English club with a recent history in Europe, the difference would be more stark because of the coefficient-based value pillar.”
Conference League has fewer matches than Europa League
Crucially, it is also worth noting that the Europa League involves eight matches in the league phase, whereas the Conference League only has six.
UEFA Conference League trophy
Photo by James Gill – Danehouse/Getty Images
Regarding that detail, Williams adds: “That previous calculation doesn’t take into account the fact that there are two fewer matches in the league phase of the Conference League compared to the Europa League. That’s one extra matchday at Selhurst Park they’re missing out on. I’d estimate that’s the best part of £1m, based on their matchday income figures in the last financial year.
“Yes, Palace have the play-off round tie at home, but you can probably justify ticket prices of 5-10% higher in the Europa League. Over the course of a European campaign, that could be a seven-figure difference, perhaps even £2m depending on the opponents they would have got in the Europa League.
“Legal fees will have been a substantial cost too, likely low six figures. Sponsors will pay out different bonuses depending on which competition you’re in as well. That might be another low six-figure discrepancy.
“So the real difference is probably closer to £4m at the low end and £28m at the high end, depending on performance. That’s assuming they make it to the league phase.”
Williams has previously shared that the arrival of Johnson should help Crystal Palace financially – and could potentially bring an additional £30m of revenue into Selhurst Park – so there has been a tiny financial benefit of finally shaking Textor off.
Delicious irony for Crystal Palace
Should Crystal Palace – who are set to lose Marc Guehi to Liverpool – manage to reach the Conference League final next season, the venue for the showpiece event carries a remarkable amount of irony.
Williams explains: “There could be a chance for the perfect revenge in the Conference League, however. The final is being played at the Red Bull Arena in Leipzig. That’s basically a temple to the multi-club model, so it would make a total mockery of the rules. It would be two fingers to UEFA.”
RB Leipzig and RB Salzburg – who both fall under the Red Bull umbrella – even played against each other twice in the 2018/19 Europa League campaign, so it is safe to say Crystal Palace have been hard done by.