UEFA champions league revenues, performance and participation 2003–2004 to 2016–2017

ABSTRACT

UEFA Champions League revenues continue to grow (€1.3bn in 2016–2017), although previous studies highlight competitive imbalance within the competition, and in the leagues supplying teams. UEFA is increasing the allocation of automatic places for the top four ranked leagues for 2018–2019, and altering the financial distribution model. This paper analyses the representation, performance and revenue distribution from 2003–2004 to 2016–2017. UEFAs priorities are split, between meeting their governance responsibility to 55 member nations, and meeting the commercial expectations from clubs. The findings demonstrate the current structure significantly benefits a small proportion of clubs, with sixteen clubs receiving €5.6bn (52%) of all revenue. The market pool element of the distribution model is where the most differences lie. Discussions include the benefits and issues with the quota changes around representation, revenue and performance, with reference to UEFAs aim to offer “fair competition” and “fair distribution” in the future.

KEYWORDS:

• UEFA champions league
• association football
• competitive balance
• revenue

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

ORCID

Steve Bullough http://orcid.org/0000-0001-8836-5853