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Payday! And I don't mean that inferior, severely lacking Snickers-approximation candy bar.
UEFA have released the final payout figures for the 2013-14 Champions League and Europa League seasons, and as one would expect for the Champions League semifinalists, Chelsea are one of the top teams in terms of moneys received: €43,391,000 to be exact. That's also known as approximately two-thirds of a Paul Pogba or the exact amount Fernando Torres has stashed away in a shoe-box marked 'COURAGE DRINKING FUND.'
Here are the top ten (EL + CL):
- Real Madrid: €57,414,000
- Paris Saint-Germain: €54,417,000
- Juventus: €50,123,115
- Atletico Madrid: €50,048,000
- Manchester United: €44,775,000
- Bayern Munich: €44,616,000
- Chelsea: €43,391,000
- Barcelona: €41,975,000
- Napoli: €40,198,392
- AC Milan: €37,599,000
As one would expect with anything UEFA, there are a few odd things in that list, chief of all being that two teams who lost in the quarterfinals got paid more than Chelsea, despite the Blues making it one round further than PSG and Manchester United. Most of that has to do with how the TV moneys are divided, which in this case benefits United as the 2012-13 Premier League champions.
Manchester United earned more CL revenue than Chelsea (£35.9m vs £34.8m) because MUFC got bigger market share due to winning PL in 12-13
— Jake Cohen (@JakeFCohen) June 25, 2014
Similarly, PSG reap the benefits of a fat market share, though their net payment will be reduced due to FFP sanctions.
PSG would have earned £43.7m in Champions League revenue, but FFP sanctions reduces share by £16m minimum.
— Jake Cohen (@JakeFCohen) June 25, 2014
Juventus meanwhile also jump over Chelsea by collecting an additional €7m+ from their Europa League matches. That's not to say that Chelsea aren't getting a healthy payout, one that should allow us to basically do whatever we please in the market.
Overall, UEFA paid out more than 1 billion Euros -- cue Dr. Evil music and pinky to the mouth gesture -- with the vast majority of it going to Champions League participants. Just another reason it pays to play in the top European competition: €900m of the €1.1bn total prize, or 80% of the money went to the Champions League. Sorry, Europa.