Manchester United and Tottenham’s Europa League final is worth as much as a minor nation’s economy.
Next week the slumbering giants will meet in Bilbao for the chance to add a varnish of glory to their utterly dispiriting seasons.
There’s no escaping it: they’ve both had torrid domestic campaigns. So bad, in fact, with United 16th and Spurs 17th, that this is the worst Europa League or UEFA Cup final in history based on league position.
The pressure on Ruben Amorim and Ange Postecoglou is enormous – more so the latter, perhaps, after his bold statement back in September. ‘I don’t usually win things, I always win things in my second year,’ he said. Now follow that up.
But this isn’t just about pride, heritage, sparing blushes. In the modern game, it’s also about stone cold cash. Or money transferred into the club’s digital coffers, rather.
Winning the Europa League final is likely worth around £100million, potentially up to £152m, and at minimum around £50m. With that sort of wonga, Sir Jim Ratcliffe might even consider paying for the flights home. But how is it worth a nine-figure sum?
The Europa League winners could benefit by as much as £150m in earnings over the next year
Manchester United and Tottenham will go toe-to-toe in the final in Bilbao next week
The winners bank an immediate £10.95m, with plenty to follow from next season’s Champions League (pictured: last year’s final’s star of the show, Ademola Lookman of Atalanta)
The prize money for winning the final is relatively modest, but it’s a good start: £10.95m.
United have already accrued around £9.3m from their progression and individual wins along the way, so adding almost £11m to that makes it the sort of money which can pay for a signing in the summer.
Losing in the final of the Europa League sees quite a plummet down to £5.9m in the final.
Where the real financial value of winning comes from is by the golden egg every club wishes they could guarantee: qualification for the Champions League.
‘A good season in the Champions League can be worth far in excess of £100m,’ football finance expert Kieran Maguire recently told BBC Sport.
‘By the time you combine gate receipts, sponsor bonuses and the prize money available, the numbers involved are eye-watering.’
And that’s really why the Europa League is worth so much – it’s a gateway to the Champions League.
Every club that qualifies for the league phase earns an automatic windfall of £15.7m in prize money – even if they lose every match and finish dead last.
Teams are awarded an automatic £15.7m for reaching the Champions League league phase
Teams pokcket £1.8m for every win, and £230,000 for every place in the league table
The sides could bank up to £44.3m by reaching the last 16 of next year’s Champions League
But a win in the league phase is worth £1.8m, and a draw is worth £600,000. So, if you manage to win every group game, you’d earn yourself a pretty £14.m – almost as much as the total Europa League final prize money for this season.
Not only that, but every position in the league phase is worth £230,000. The team who finished bottom this season, Young Boys, will have earned £230,000. The club above them Slovan Bratislava, £460,000.
This pattern continues up to the club who finished first in the league phase, Liverpool, who were handed £8.3m for that achievement.
Moreover, you’re given a bonus of £1.7m for finishing in the top eight of the league phase, and around £0.85 for finishing ninth to 16th.
We’re not done there – you’re also handed a qualification bonus of £9.3m for reaching the last 16.
So, what are we up to so far? If you win the Europa League final, then win every group game and finish top in the league phase, you’ll have banked £44.3m based on this year’s finances – and that’s before we even get to the big money!
From there, the rewards rise stratospherically. Reaching the quarter-finals is worth an extra £10.5m, the semis are worth £12.6m, and making the final gives another boost of £16.6m.
If you go on and win the final, you bank an extra £5.5m compared to the runners-up.
Winning the Europa League and going on to win the Champions League would be worth £150m
United will not have a trophy parade if they win the Europa League – their last was in 2013
Phew. Take a breath. So, if United or Spurs win the Europa League final, then embark on a magical journey to winning the Champions League final, then based on this year’s figures, that would provide a windfall of… £89.5m.
And that’s before we’ve even touched matchday income or sponsorship deals. See how this adds up?
Speaking to BBC Sport, football finance expert Maguire estimated that it would be feasible for Man United to bank £6m in matchday revenue per Champions league home match.
That’s because this season, their average across competitions has been £5.2m per match, and they’re bringing in a five per cent ticket price rise, plus it’s the Champions League, so other revenue streams are likely to increase.
At a minimum of four home games that would be £24m, then, but if they went all the way, they could be banking £48m in matchday revenue.
Tottenham’s average gate yield is around £4.9m, so they could earn between £19.6m and £39.2m from Champions League home games.
Alongside that, United and Spurs will have individual partnerships which may have incentives for the competitions they qualify for – or penalties in the case of failure.
For example, United are set to face a £10m penalty from Adidas in lost income on their 10-year kit deal every time they miss out on Europe’s top table.
The value of having extra home games will be worth millions of pounds to either team
Tottenham or United would earn tens of millions in revenue from the extra home games
If you then also add on qualification for next season’s Super Cup, there’s an extra £3.4m, then winning that there’s an extra £0.85m.
Now, we could take this even further, and visualise the dream scenario for United and Spurs where they win next season’s Champions League, as we already have, and add on the potential revenue from subsequent Club World Cup and Super Cup campaigns, but we’d probably be being a bit ridiculous there.
But if we’re counting the Europa League triumph, then the potential earnings it gives for next season, plus avoiding the £10m dock from Adidas in the case of United, then that would add up to around £165.1m.
That’s more than the GDP of the world’s smallest economies, Tuvalu and Nauru.
But even if they flop in the Champions League, losing every single game, they’d still be earning £50.65m from the Europa League win, broadcast revenue, and gate receipts (this would be different for Spurs).
The rewards for players will be handsome if they make the Champions League. Casemiro’s wages would rise 25 per cent from £375,000 to £500,000, according to the Daily Star.
But failure to win could entail wage cuts – as The Athletic reported, Andre Onana was apparently ‘shocked’ to see his wage slashed by 25 per cent this campaign after the club failed to reach the Champions League.
And with all of Ratcliffe’s penny-pinching, one wonders what the impact would be on United’s staffing levels if they go on and lose, as Gary Neville feels they should on paper.
