Sheikhs dominate the Champions League business

Manchester City, owned by Mansour Al Nahyan, had the highest revenue from the elite competition for the first time in history

“They don’t know what to do with their petrodollars,” “a toy in the hands of wealthy sheikhs,” “unable to compete with legendary clubs like Real Madrid or Bayern Munich.” These were some of the comments that accompanied Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan’s entry in 2008 into the then-average English club Manchester City. But what was once seen as a "toy" has become a highly profitable football powerhouse. Today, it has even surpassed giants like Real Madrid and Bayern — in terms of total revenue from the world’s most lucrative cup competition, the UEFA Champions League. For the first time in history, Manchester City became the highest-earning club in the prestigious tournament. According to figures published by the European football union, the Citizens earned 83.9 million euros last season. “The story of City since the Sheikh’s arrival is incredible, and the club is already very successful. It’s still growing and may soon triumph in the Champions League,” says Jozef Tokos, a sports analyst and football agent, for the Economic Daily.

They surpassed even the winner
UEFA distributed a record total of nearly 1.3 billion euros among the 32 clubs in the main group stage of the Champions League. Compared to the previous season, that represents a more than 28 percent increase. Surprisingly, it wasn’t the overall winner Real Madrid that received the largest share of the billion-euro pool, but Manchester City. “The main reason was a higher income for the Citizens from the so-called market pool, meaning their market share of television viewership,” Tokos explains. In this context, Manchester City may have benefited from the fact that two Spanish teams — Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid — joined them in the semifinals and later in the final. While Real earned 26 million euros from the market pool, Manchester City earned 20 million more. “That could mean that, globally, City’s matches were watched more than those of any other team,” Tokos adds. The fact is, Manchester City also benefits from its global football presence. Through the Abu Dhabi United Group, Sheikh Mansour owns clubs in North America (New York City FC) and Australia (Melbourne City FC). Their popularity was further boosted by domestic success — winning the Premier League titles in 2012 and 2014.

A decade dominated by Chelsea
On the occasion of UEFA’s release of prize money distribution in the Champions League, the Economic Daily looked at which club has earned the most over the past decade. And surprisingly, it wasn’t FC Barcelona, the most successful team of the era, nor Real Madrid or Manchester United. Since the 2006/2007 season, the highest earnings from UEFA went to London’s Chelsea, owned by Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich — a total of 423.5 million euros over ten seasons. Barcelona came a close second, earning just four million less.

Looking at the total amount of money UEFA distributed to participants in the main tournament, the sum has doubled over the past ten years. In 2007, 32 teams received a combined 579.8 million euros; this year, they received 1.3 billion. “It’s confirmation that the football business is growing at a tremendous pace. And the Champions League is a brand that will continue to attract sponsors and fans,” added Jozef Tokos. Even higher revenues could result from proposed changes to the tournament’s qualification system. According to a preliminary agreement, starting in 2018, 16 clubs from the four strongest European leagues — England, Spain, Germany, and Italy — would be directly placed in the main group stage.