Hi all,
The UEFA Champions League draw was held yesterday, and the biggest football club event in the world can start! A quick snapshot on the teams, their sponsors, and the last Champions League season revenues the club received from participating, exiting or winning.

2010-2011 sponsor overview

The 2010-2011 is on and these are the teams which will try to shake Inter’s european football supremacy.

The 32 teams are split as follow:

adidas: 11 teams
Nike: 9 teams
Umbro: 3 teams
Puma: 2 teams
Kappa: 3 teams
Diadora: 1 team
Joma: 1 team
Airness: 1 team
Macron: 1 team

This picture gives us a clear overview that adidas and Nike have by far the biggest amount of teams and also the teams most likely to win the tournament. Well, you will argue that they sponsor the best (and biggest amount of) teams in europe, and consequently a strong exposure in european competitions. However, I am noticing that the pie is indeed for 2 only as I pointed out in a previous article.

As football marketers, you will have also noticed the presence of Umbro teams in the top 3 and would argue that the Nike Group does have 12 teams in total, and you would be right. However, I have always been keen on not mixing the brands even when they are part of the same group (Nike and Umbro OR adidas and Reebok). Why? because although Umbro and Reebok are respectively part of the Nike and adidas Group, they do remain a brand on their own, with a different football marketing strategy, different products, different consumers, demographics etc.

The second key learning is the presence of sports brands with a lesser economic power. Looking closely, they sponsor team with the least amount of chances to lift the Trophy. With all respect to CFR Cluj or even AJ Auxerre, I do not believe they have the sporting capacity to win the tournament.

Update your calendar and don’t miss any game!

2009-2010 Champions League Financial distribution

Also, the 32 clubs competing in the UEFA Champions League last season received performance-related payments, as well as money from the TV market pool, amounting to €746.400.000. Winners FC Internazionale Milano receiving the largest amount of €48.759.000 after completing a triumphant campaign with victory in the final against FC Bayern München.

UEFA has confirmed how much the sides involved earned from their 2009/10 exploits, after money generated by the centralised marketing of European football’s premier club competition was redistributed among the 32 teams. Italian champions Internazionale, who defeated Bayern 2-0 in the Madrid final on 22 May, received almost €49m in payments from UEFA. This was made up of more than €29m for their performances from the UEFA Champions League group stage onwards and another €19.6m from the television market pool.

The performance-related payments for runners-up Bayern amounted to €25m and, with the addition of €19m from the TV market pool, the German club earned a total of €44.862.000.

The €746m in prize money allocated to the 32 clubs taking part from the group stage onwards consisted of €408,600,000 from commercial revenue plus €337,800,000 from the market pool. The commercial revenue comprised funds accrued from media rights and commercial contracts concluded by UEFA in relation to the 2009/10 UEFA Champions League and 2009 UEFA Super Cup.

All the clubs were entitled to receive a minimum of €7.1m in accordance with the distribution system, which awarded a basic participation bonus of €3.8m plus €3.3m from the six €550.000 match bonuses given per group game. Additionally, performance bonuses were paid in the group stage: €800,000 for every win and €400.000 for every draw.

From there, the 16 teams that reached the first knockout round earned an extra €3m, the eight quarter-finalists €3.3m, and the four semi-finalists – including FC Barcelona and Olympique Lyonnais – another €4m. Inter then received €9m as winners of the Santiago Bernabéu final and Bayern €5.2m as runners-up.

Monies from the market pool were distributed according to the proportional value of the national TV market each individual club represented, among other factors, so the amounts given varied from country (or national association) to country.

[Source: UEFA.com & FootballMarketing.com]

The same financial template shall be in place for the 2010-2011 UEFA Champions League season. Check out the full Champions League revenue distribution here.

Karl Lusbec

PS: Thanks to Rayde Luis Baez for your input on Valencia!

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