Football has fast become the wealthiest industry in the world, with hundreds of millions spent on the elite players of world football every year. But what is the reason for this extravagant spending? Over the years, the market value of players has skyrocketed; this includes the initial transfer fee, the signing-on fee and wages included. In 2022, Manchester City, named by many as the best team in the world, broke the bank by bringing in powerhouse Erling Haaland with the intention of winning the UEFA Champions League, the richest competition in world club football. Throughout this article, we will be going through how much teams could potentially win in these lucrative competitions uncovering the reason for the amount of spending across the globe.
The UEFA Champions League
The total purse for the UEFA Champions League is £1.72 Billion per year, and this is split into prize money for teams depending on where they finish in the competition, with the winner earning the most. The money starts for teams once they have reached the group stage, which for most of the teams is the first stage of the competition; they will earn a guaranteed £15.6 million for getting to the group stage. For reaching the last 16, they will earn an additional £9.6 million, an additional £10.6 million for reaching the quarterfinals, an additional £12.5 million for reaching the semi-finals, an additional £15.5 million if they become runners up and then finally an additional £20 million if they go the whole way. This means they could earn a total of £87.57 million, quite a prize for only playing 14 games.
The Premier League
The Premier League is the wealthiest league in the world, and with the amount of money being won, it is easy to see why so much money is being spent yearly. A breakdown of the prize money for the Premier League teams during the season of 21/22 was released, and you can only imagine it has gone up since then. This breakdown has revealed that the worst team in the league, finishing 20th, will still receive £100M, which sounds great. Still, if they do indeed finish in the bottom 3 in the league, this will mean relegation, and they will then be transferred to a different division, meaning they will not receive this sort of money until they get promoted. The team finishing first will receive a total of £160M.
The World Cup
The total purse for the most recent World Cup was over £400 million, with a mammoth £40 million going to the tournament winner. Something else to consider is that many countries agree to pay for international tournaments for free, meaning whatever they win will go straight to charity, which is even more reason to be happy should that specific country win. On the split side, if you are trying to save money when buying your favourite country shirt ready for the next World Cup, these JD discount codes would be perfect for you and your loved ones.
The UEFA Europa League
The Europa League prize money starts once they enter the group stages like the Champions League. The prize money, of course, will increase the further they get into the tournament. Though the UEFA Europa League has grown in popularity in the last few years, the prize money has decreased in the previous year due to some of the budget used for COVID-19 relief programmes. If they were to go on and win the whole competition, they would be set to win over £28 million, which is life-changing for most teams participating in the competition. If they are outside Europe’s top 5 leagues (Italy, Germany, England, Spain and France), this is more money than they are ever likely to earn from a singular competition.
The UEFA Conference League
This competition is the exact format of the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League, but this competition was created with the idea of including lesser-known teams. UEFA wanted to bring more inclusion to European football; within the top 5 leagues, there always seemed to be the same teams, but this competition allowed smaller teams to win some European silverware. For example, the current champions are West Ham United, a club that had yet to win a trophy since the 1980s before winning this trophy. The prize money for this competition is, as expected, a lot less than the other two UEFA competitions. However, the prize money is much lower; if they win the competition, they will still take away over £17 million, which is life-changing for every club associated with the competition.
In conclusion, trophies are a testament to players’ and teams’ dedication, sweat, and tears. They symbolise the pursuit of excellence, the enduring spirit of competition, and the unbreakable bond between fans and their beloved clubs. So, the next time you see a gleaming cup hoisted high in celebration, remember the amount of riches that can be gained from only winning a handful of games.
