WE HALF LIFT-OFF
The rich are about to become much richer as UEFA reveal a 50% prize rise to £2.23billion
CELTIC will hit the jackpot again if they qualify for the Champions League groups next season after UEFA announced a huge hike in prize money.
The total prize fund for European club competitions has gone up by a whopping 50 per cent to £2.23billion.
Celts scooped over £27million from last term’s campaign – and can expect to earn more if they reach the promised land again.
But it’s a case of the rich getting richer – as UEFA have introduced a new payment based on each club’s record in European competitions over the last 10 years.
So the team with the lowest coefficient in the Champions League group stage will land just under a million while the likes of Real Madrid will scoop £31m.
And if Real go on to lift a fourth successive European Cup they will collect a further £44.65m.
Total earnings for the winning side will top £100m – summing up the huge gap between the elite and the rest of Europe.
Teams reaching the group stage will earn a guaranteed £13.35m– up from £11.6m a year ago – but Celtic would receive less than last season’s
£13.4m from their share of the TV money for British teams.
UEFA’s market pool for broadcasting next season is estimated at £255m – down from £443m last season.
But the drop is due to the new coefficient payment which makes up 30 per cent of cash – with the market pool allocated just 15 per cent.
The Parkhead club currently sit 45th in the coefficient rankings – above the likes of Monaco, Bruges, Hoffenheim, Viktoria Plzen and Lokomotiv Moscow who are already guaranteed a place in the group stage.
So Celtic would receive at least £5m for their coefficient payment if they qualify and stand to earn more if other teams below them make it.
A win in the group stage would land them £2.36m and a draw £800,000 while qualification for the last 16 would net an extra £8m.
The prize fund for the Europa League has gone up by 25 per cent to £446.5million.
But the likes of Aberdeen, Rangers and Hibs would need to reach the groups to earn serious cash.
That would earn a bonus of £2.5m with a group-stage win worth £500,000 and a draw £166,000.
Losing in the first round of qualifiers would earn the Dons, Gers and Hibs just £192,000 with the figure rising by only £17,000 for each qualifying round.