A potential loss of over €50m – Champions and Europa League prize money compared

AC Milan are facing the realistic possibility of not having Champions League football in 2025-26, something that would cause economic damage.

La Gazzetta dello Sport have published a report which outlines the overall difference between the first and second continental competition, i.e. the Europa League. The UEFA prize money – divided into participation fees, results and market pool – allocated overall to the current edition of the Champions League (and which will be valid for three years) amounts to €2.47bn.

The Europa League has been allocated €565m, still €100m more than the previous three years (the Champions League prize fund went up €500m), but a drastically lower figure than its richer big brother.

The good news is that Milan, thanks to very prudent financial management by Elliott Management and RedBird Capital, have sorted out the accounts, producing a profit that had not been seen for a long time.

So, in principle, the Rossoneri being in the Europa League would not cause any immediate financial emergency (needing a fire sale). If anything, it would have a cascade effect on future developments precisely because participating in the Europa League would bring in much lower revenues.