UEFA are predicting the revamped Champions League will deliver a 33% rise in broadcast and sponsorship revenue but the governing body is coming under pressure from critics to ensure the additional earnings are distributed more fairly.
Giorgia Marchetti, the UEFA competitions director, said they are “working on conservative and more optimistic projections” of between €4.6bn to €4.8bn (£4bn to £4.2bn) from the start of 2024, when the number of participants will have increased to 36.
The new format will see 189 games a season - an increase of 74 - with clubs set to play eight matches in the initial round. They will be ranked in a league table where the top eight advance to a round of 16 and will be joined by eight more sides, ranked from 9th to 24th, who must face off in a play-off round.
Questions around the expansion have already been raised by the players’ union FIFPRO, who say that the current calendar is so packed it is leading to burnout among stars at top teams.
But for UEFA it makes evident financial sense as recent broadcast deals in the UK, France and the United States for the 2024-27 cycle point to significant growth. TNT Sports, which will replace BT at the end of this season, are set to share the UK rights with Amazon in addition to highlights being shown on BBC in a deal worth almost £1.4bn.
Yet UEFA must navigate a number of other hurdles amid calls for income to be redistributed more evenly to slow the financial disparity between a select few superclubs and the champions of smaller domestic leagues.
The governing body is committed to working with the influential European Clubs Association to settle on a new payment structure, particularly around coefficient payments which sees the most successful and, by proxy, richest clubs earns significantly more money.
Under the current system, which rewards clubs on their performances in European competition over the past 10 years, a total of €600m (£521m) is distributed per season. But reigning champions Real Madrid will receive about €36m (£31.2m) this season compared to Maccabi Haifa banking only €1.2m (£1m).
Marchetti confirmed that a review of distribution models is taking place but "it is too early to say which direction we will go." One suggestion is that teams from Europe’s big five leagues - England, France, Germany, Italy and Spain - will face caps on the amount they can earn with any surplus then going to those from smaller countries.
He added: “This is still in discussion among all the stakeholders, Uefa, the clubs and the leagues. But I would point out that the coefficient ‘pillar’ is based on results over the past ten years. It is not so far away from the criteria that the leagues use, taking into account the value, fanbase and contribution of clubs.
