The other five English Champions League clubs are guaranteed a lot more money than Newcastle United, as things stand.
You could say: Arsenal, Liverpool, Man City, Chelsea and Spurs all finished higher in the Swiss League stage table.
You could also say: Arsenal, Liverpool, Man City, Chelsea and Spurs have all already qualified for the last 16, unlike Eddie Howe’s team.
You would be right on both counts.
However, that doesn’t tell the whole story of why Newcastle United are the relative paupers when it comes to Premier League clubs receiving money from Champions League distribution.
A new report has analyzed the current state of play regarding the six English clubs and Champions League money.
Chris Weatherspoon is the Football Finance Specialist at The Athletics and he reported:
Now that the competitive phase of the 2025/26 UEFA Champions League is over, an estimate of the prize money earned by English clubs so far is:
• Liverpool €97m (£84m)
• Manchester City €97m (£84m)
• Arsenal €96m (£83m)
• Chelsea €92m (£80m)
• Spurs €85m (£73m)
• Newcastle €54m (£47m)
Things will be helped if/when Newcastle United get through the play-off against Qarabag FK.
Reaching the last 16 would earn a further €11 million (£9.53 million at current exchange rates) for Newcastle United.
However, that would still leave NUFC under £57m and over £16m behind the next Premier League club (Spurs £73m). While it is a huge £23m+ behind the other four English teams.
As a reminder, these were the last positions in the Swiss League stage in the Champions League table of the six clubs:
Arsenal (1st), Liverpool (3rd), Spurs (4th), Chelsea (6th), Man City (8th), Newcastle United (12th)
However, when it comes to guaranteed Champions League cash so far, this is the pecking order:
Liverpool, Manchester City, Arsenal, Chelsea, Spurs, Newcastle United
It almost feels like it’s all a bit unfair…
However, this is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to fairness and how the Champions League money is distributed.
For example, it was more than possible (indeed very likely) that Newcastle United could have finished highest of the six English clubs in the Champions League and yet still be guaranteed less money at this point than the other five.
A history lesson
If you remember what happened the last time Newcastle United played in the Champions League, when it came to sharing money, then you might have a good idea of what this is all about.
At the time, in the 2023/24 season, Manchester United did slightly worse than Newcastle United in the Champions League, but Man U earned around £20 million more than NUFC when UEFA shared the payout.
The more things change, the more they stay the same
Simultaneously with the new format of the Swiss League, the way in which the money from the Champions League would be distributed was also changed.
When I say changed, the basic principles have not.
Although mentioning principles when it comes to UEFA (and especially FIFA) and where we are today may be a bit of an exaggeration!
(What we’re talking about is Champions League money from central funds, things like match revenue from tickets is just like in the Premier League, the home club collects those profits from every match):
In 2024, UEFA announced that this was how the Champions League money would be distributed from the central pot for the next three seasons:
For the 2024-2027 cycle, the net revenue available to participating clubs will be divided into three
different pillars:
– 27.5% is allocated to equal shares (starting fee) (€670 million)
– 37.5% is allocated to performance-related fixed amounts (€ 914 million)
– 35% will be allocated to the newly created value pillar (€853 million)
Therefore, it was divided into three pots.
No surprise that an equal distribution for all 36 clubs only happens in the smallest of the three pots! Whereby 27.5% (€ 670 million) is allocated to equal shares.
Subsequently, 37.5% (€ 914 million) was determined by performance-related fixed amounts.
That leaves us with the ‘newly created value pillar’ that determines where more than a third (35%/€853 million) of the money goes.
Multiple pots – there is a ‘value pillar’ (worth €853 million for the 36 clubs) that weighs heavily on past performance in the UEFA competition
The UEFA explanation about that value pillar begins…
1.1.2.3Value pillar (€853 million)
The new value pillar is a combination of the former market pool (country market value) and coefficients (individual club coefficients) pillars. The value pillar consists of two parts:
– European part
– Non-European part
As is often the case with many of these things, UEFA’s official explanation is very long and complicated. You are very welcome to read that official explanation Explanation of the value pillar of the Champions League yourself.
However, the most important point, in my opinion, is this.
In the ‘European part’, the cash share largely depends on your UEFA coefficient based on the past five years.
Then, for the ‘Non-European part’, UEFA explains… ‘The non-European part is distributed in each competition based on the ten-year UEFA coefficient rankings of the 36 participating clubs.’
What it’s really all about
With the encouragement of the clubs that had benefited most and also to alleviate concerns about another attempt to break away from the European Super League, UEFA has for a number of years now arranged it so that the clubs that were already the richest and most powerful would be guaranteed a larger share of Champions League revenue each season than those trying to overtake the richest and most powerful.
So if you have played regularly in the Champions League for the last five/ten years and have had all the benefits that come with that, especially money, then you are now guaranteed more money every future Champions League season, compared to clubs that have not had that advantage in recent years.
There’s no rhyme or reason to it, no justification (no honesty…?). What other sports/leagues automatically give you more money if you perform well during a season, based largely on what you did before? Not even the Premier League does this! So clubs don’t get extra money based on how they did in the Premier League five years earlier, etc.
If UEFA had any interest in encouraging more competition, then surely the opposite should happen. The clubs like Newcastle United and Aston Villa for example, who are trying to overtake those who have built up so much financial power, should certainly get a better deal if they qualify for the Champions League than Liverpool and Man City, who already have such an advantage when it comes to finances.
It’s getting worse
As you probably know, the Premier League is now becoming more aligned with UEFA and is moving from PSR to SCR (Squad Cost Ratio). Premier League clubs were only allowed to spend a certain percentage of their income on transfer fees and wages. English clubs that participate in UEFA competitions have already had to comply with this, otherwise they will be punished by UEFA.
In terms of their attempts to compete in the Champions League, the likes of Newcastle United and Aston Villa pressed both ways:
Firstly… The established clubs that already have the power and money, such as Man City and Liverpool, are guaranteed much more Champions League money in each season if they qualify than Villa or NUFC, if they perform the same. Worse still, as previously outlined, even if Newcastle United or Aston Villa do better than Liverpool or Man City in a Champions League season, they (Newcastle/Villa) will still get less money.
Secondly… Newcastle United and Aston Villa have much lower annual revenues (partly because they get a lower share of Champions League/UEFA funding!) and UEFA (and Premier League) rules say they can’t spend more than a certain percentage of their revenue or they’ll be punished.
So the richest and most powerful clubs currently have much larger revenues and so their allowable spending ratio equates to much more money allowed to be spent on wages and transfer fees (than Newcastle/Villa).
UEFA then set things up to allow the already richest clubs to widen the financial gap even further if they perform the same as Villa or Newcastle in any season.
The only way for a Newcastle United and/or an Aston Villa to really break this open is if they then qualify for the Champions League every season and become one of the established most powerful and richest clubs, which then reaps all these additional benefits from what has happened over the last five/ten years.
The fact that Eddie Howe has led Newcastle United to two Champions League qualifications in three seasons is exceptional. Against all odds.
Unai Emery is on course to do the same with Aston Villa. That would also be exceptional if that happened.
Newcastle United are in desperate need of a much larger and modern stadium to help significantly with finances, and of course allow many more fans to watch their team.
That AND continued success on the pitch could ultimately lead to Newcastle United breaking open those six Premier League clubs, in terms of financial competition.
As things stand, Newcastle United (and Aston Villa) should basically get a bullseye every time they throw a dart, while the already richest and most powerful only have to hit the board with their dart, or even miss the board altogether for a few seasons, and it makes little difference!
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