How important are UEFA Europa League's and Conference League's revenues to its participating clubs? To answer this question, we dug into the magnitude of the revenues received by each club participating in the group stage of 23/24 edition (excluding market pool and matchday income), comparing them to their sporting/financial size.
UEFA Europa League (UEL)
With clubs from 21 European leagues participating, the revenues earned varied x3.9 from the lowest to highest earner, including the earlier qualifying rounds. However, the magnitude of these revenues vary much greatly when we consider the real impact on these different clubs:
In the case of Qarabağ FK, the revenues would hypothetically cover an abismal 70% of its whole Market Value, followed by MOLDE FK (57%) and Maccabi Haifa FC Haifa (53%), perhaps suggesting room for improvement in capitalizing their sporting operations and elevating their current squad level.
On the other hand, for Liverpool FC (1%), Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club (2%), AS Roma, Bayer 04 Leverkusen, Stade Rennais F.C. or West Ham United FC (3%), these revenues have proven to be a smaller part of their financial dimension, which might have led them to strategically relegate this competition to a secondary plan and focus on domestic competitions until this point.
Regarding the expected places, the main surprise was Qarabağ with 2 places above the expected, while the main disappointment would have been Real Betis Balompié and BK Häcken, ending 2 places below.
Additionally, it is worth highlighting the impact that revenues from this competition have in clubs from peripheral leagues, averaging 28% of their Market Value in the case of clubs from outside UEFA's top 7 leagues, which could lead to great imbalances.
UEFA Europa Conference League (UECL)
With clubs from 28 European leagues participating, the revenues earned varied x2.5 from the lowest to highest earner, including the earlier qualifying rounds. However, the magnitude of these revenues vary much greatly when we consider the real impact on these different clubs:
Similar to what happens with Qarabağ in the case of the UEL, for KÍ KlaksvÍkar the revenues received would hypothetically cover an abismal 141% of its whole Market Value, followed by Breidablik K. (121%) and Ballkani (74%), perhaps suggesting room for improvement in capitalizing their sporting operations and elevating their current squad level.
On the other hand, for Aston Villa FC (1%), LOSC Lille (3%), ACF Fiorentina (3%), Besiktas JK, KRC Genk, Eintracht Frankfurt or Fenerbahçe SK (4%), these revenues have proven to be a smaller part of their financial dimension, which might have led them to strategically relegate this competition to a secondary plan and focus on domestic competitions until this point.
Regarding the expected places, there were not many surprises with no club managing to finish 2 places above or below its predicted rank. Nonetheless, Maccabi Tel-Aviv, Viktoria Plzen and PAOK did manage to win their groups while being underdogs.
Additionally, it is worth highlighting the impact that revenues from this competition have in clubs from peripheral leagues, averaging 32% of their Market Value in the case of clubs from outside UEFA's top 7 leagues, which could lead to great imbalances.
One of the key aspects to consider for clubs outside of the main leagues is what to do with the money they receive from European competitions, as it represents a clear booster in their finances. Having the right strategy and deciding wisely where to allocate that money is key to avoid overspending on transfer fees and salaries (they could afford more than before) instead tackling other investments that could be much more impactful in the future, like the youth Academy development.
In that sense, at Four Nations Football Consulting we assist clubs with their sporting/financial strategy, giving expert advice on how to make their organizations grow on and off the pitch with a sustainable approach, and providing recommendations that can contribute to their short-term decision-making and solve some of the threats and weaknesses which could hinder the mid/long term planning of the club.