Real Madrid, Manchester City, Inter and Milan have arrived at semi-finals of the Champions League 2022-2023, synonymous with sporting prestige but also with millionaire income, especially for those who manage to fly to Istanbul, home of the last act of the most important European football competition. Gaining access to the final is worth a lot from an economic point of view, huge sums that can greatly influence the planning of the next seasons. From clubs to national teams, cash prizes for a winning career are particularly attractive.
In the current Champions League, Milan reached the semifinals after finishing their group in second place behind Chelsea, to then overcome Tottenham in the round of 16 and Napoli in the quarterfinals. Same path for the Nerazzurri, second behind Bayern Munich and capable of eliminating Porto and Benfica in the later stages. The protagonists of the other semifinal, Real Madrid and Manchester City, instead dominated their respective groups of Champions, overcoming in the knockout stage, noble formations of the caliber of Liverpool, Bayern Munich and Chelsea.
A path that allows the four semi-finalists to dream of the final on June 10th. Conquering the last act of the competition would have great value from the point of view of economic income, with prizes that differ according to the ranking of each team. So far, the conquest of the semi-finals allows Milan to be able to count on a treasure trove of 85 million euros. Inter’s rivals will instead receive around 82 million while Real Madrid and Manchester City can already rely on an award, respectively equal to 115 million and 113 million euros.
Conquering the Champions League final, on the other hand, would mean adding a fixed prize of 15.5 million euros to each one, the value of which must be increased by the percentage of the market pool. Of course, to these amounts we must add all the money deriving from box office receipts, often millionaires. From these data it is clear that all the finalists could count on income of at least 100 million euros deriving from their journey in the Champions League, starting from the group stage up to the final.
Numbers that highlight how sports results also count economically, not only at club level but also at national level. In this regard, it is enough to go back to the success of the Azzurri at EURO 2020. A triumph which, in addition to bringing Italy back to the top of Europe in terms of football, translated into a lot of money in the FIGC’s coffers. From qualifying to the victory at Wembley, the check cashed by our federation was approximately 28 million euros. It will certainly be more difficult to repeat itself in 2024, even if the odds for Europeans on the winner of the event, at the moment they appear rather balanced, with France, England and Germany in pole position while Spain and Italy are further behind according to the main Bookmakers.
Ultimately, doing well in the most important football events, as well as giving prestige to the winning teams and bestowing immense happiness on their respective fans, becomes equally important from an economic point of view, to ensure constant growth for clubs and national teams.