A football finance firm has revealed how much Liverpool earned from their run to last year’s Champions League final, with their report also hinting at what the Reds could miss out on if they fail to qualify for the tournament next season.
Swiss Ramble [via Liverpool Echo] presented figures from UEFA’s financial report outlining that the Reds claimed €120m (£105.6m) in revenue from getting to the decider at the Stade de France, where they lost to Real Madrid.
In qualifying for the group stage and winning all six matches in that phase of the tournament, Jurgen Klopp’s side earned €32.4m (£28.5m).
A further €66.3m (£58.3m) in prize money came from battling through three knockout rounds in reaching the final, while they banked €6.2m (£5.5m) in TV pool money owing to their third-placed Premier League finish the campaign prior.
Liverpool’s Champions League run in 2021/22 saw them claim €9.4m (£8.27m) in revenues from a 30% share of the TV pool pot available to English clubs in the competition last season.
Another factor in the overall earnings is a team’s placing in the coefficient ranking over a 10-year period, with the Reds’ standing helped by them reaching three of the previous five finals in the tournament.
Despite the massive disappointment of losing the final last May, which paled in comparison with the disgusting treatment of match-going spectators by UEFA and the French authorities, these figures show the value of a prolonged run in the Champions League.
Each phase of the competition yields significantly more revenue, while consistently getting to the business end not only helps with seedings for the group stage draw but also the financial benefits from a strong historical coefficient.
Liverpool’s position in that regard is strong due to their excellent record in the tournament since 2017/18, but failure to qualify for next season could have longer-term implications.
Missing out on the 2023/24 edition would hamper the Reds’ coefficient, with a greater weighting placed on more recent years, and make it much harder to yield the same rewards outlined by Swiss Ramble.
It’s not just the prestige of the Champions League which makes it so important to be in the tournament, but also the vast financial benefits from playing in the competition and progressing through the rounds.
That’s what makes Liverpool’s final eight matches of the Premier League campaign so pivotal, and there’s simply no room for error anymore withground to make up on the top four as the finish line comes into view.