UEFA Champions League Broadcasting Rights Revenues Explained

In November 2013, BT won the exclusive rights to show 350 live Champions League and Europa League matches in the UK for three seasons from the 2015-16 season. BT paid around £900m to UEFA for the live rights. Previously, Sky and ITV (who are the current incumbents) paid just under £400m. This deal is different to past agreements with UEFA who had previously split the exclusive rights between two broadcasters. This time, BT won all the available packages with the consequence that for the first time, no live Champions League or Europa League action will be available on UK terrestrial TV. It has been reported however that each UK club, once a season, will be screened free of charge on the BT platform including both Champions League and Europa League finals too.

Prize Money for Champions League Participation

The Champions League prize money is split between a fixed amount for set performance thresholds (as set out in the second below table) and a TV pool allocation. At the time of writing, the revenue figures for the 2013-14 have just been published. The top ten earning Champions League clubs in the 2013-14 season are set out below:

The below table demonstrates the fixed amounts that each Champions League participating team earns throughout the various stages.

The second part of the revenue distribution is the important part for the new BT deal. In addition to the above fixed performance amounts, the clubs who qualify for the Champions League receive a proportion of the TV money paid by the national broadcaster. Therefore the size of the revenue pool is linked to the value of the country's TV market. The revenue pool distribution is split between where a club finished in its previous season and how successful it is in the current competition. The Premier League champions receive 40% of the TV revenue pool, second place receives 30%, third place 20% and fourth place 10%. Where a team finished in its domestic league is important for its UEFA revenues. With the increased BT deal from 2015-16 season, clubs qualifying for Champions League competition will share in the increase of the TV pool money. It is not inconceivable that UEFA's distribution could reach over £60m if the 2014-15 Premier League champions then win the Champions League...