Uefa's rise to €1bn in commercial revenue a boon for LOI's Euro qualifiers

A major spike in prize-money is expected to come in the next few years

Shamrock Rovers, Derry City, Shelbourne and Bohemians are this year's League of Ireland qualifiers for European competitions. Pic: Michael P Ryan/Sportsfile

Ireland’s representatives in Uefa’s club competitions are set to massively benefit from a projected 40% increase in the European governing body’s commercial income to over €1bn.

Despite Drogheda United being expelled by Uefa due to multi-club restrictions, Ireland’s three qualifiers all grossed seven-figure prize-money pots.

St Patrick’s Athletic earned €1.075m from three Conference League qualifying rounds before their run was ended by Turkish giants Beşiktaş while progression by Shelbourne and Shamrock Rovers to the league phase was reflected by prize-money of €4.45m and €5.9m.

This year’s qualifiers, Shamrock Rovers, Derry City, Shelbourne and Bohemians, will begin their quest for a similar collective €10m return this summer but the major spike in prize-money is expected to come in the next few years.

That’s because two additional global sponsorship deals are close to being agreed by Uefa.

UC3, the commercial joint venture owned by Uefa and the clubs, is finalising agreements with an official payments provider and technology partner, which would complete their roster of premium global partners and see sponsorship income rise by more than 40%.

Uefa currently allocates 74% of its prize fund and 56% of its club competition revenue to Champions League clubs, and 17% given to the Europa League and 9% to the Conference League respectively.

Six-year deals with AB InBev as Uefa’s official beer partner and Pepsi as soft drinks provider from 2027 to 2033 have already been agreed, while Nike last week entered exclusive negotiations to replace Adidas as Uefa’s match ball provider.

The forecast increase in commercial revenue exceeds the significant growth Uefa has already achieved from selling the first block of TV rights for the 2027-31 cycle, and would take the governing body’s annual earnings over €6bn, a significant increase on the current figure of €4.4bn.

With Uefa currently allocating 74% of its prize fund and 56% of its club competition revenue to Champions League clubs, and 17% given to the Europa League and 9% to the Conference League respectively, the commercial growth will see the biggest clubs cash in.

Broadcast rights in the big five European markets were sold last year, with a 20% increase in the UK and 30% in Germany, followed by the Netherlands and Japan last month with tenders currently live in 21 other territories.

With Uefa projecting that TV rights valuations will exceed €5bn-a-year, the growth in sponsorship deals will take their annual commercial earnings to over €6bn.

UC3 appointed the American agency Relevent Football Partners last year to handle the TV and sponsorship tenders, ending Uefa’s 30-year association with the Swiss agency Team, which at this stage appears to have been a success.

Sources with knowledge of Relevent’s operations told the Guardian that they have ripped up Uefa’s existing sponsorship sales process, creating a new structure with four so-called elevated partners sold the rights for all three Uefa competitions. The eight other commercial partnerships available are solely focused on the Champions League.

The elevated partners are sold the commercial rights for all three Uefa competitions, giving them brand exposure across 531 matches each season, as opposed to 189 in the Champions League, whereas the other eight packages are allocated per competition.

In another change, a reserve price for the tier one packages was set at €120m, with AB InBev agreeing to pay €230m-a-year to end Heineken’s 35-year sponsorship of the Champions League.

Pepsi also exceeded the reserve price to extend their sponsorship for another six years, while the payment and technology partnerships will bring in at least another €250m.

Uefa’s increased earnings from next year will lead to more pressure on European football’s governing body to alter their distribution model for clubs outside the elite.

Seven clubs received more than €100m in prize money from Uefa last season, with Champions League winners Paris Saint-Germain topping the table with €144.4m, leading to fears that the growing financial chasm will damage the competitive balance of European football.

At their AGM last month, lobby group Union of European Clubs offered an alternative proposal that would narrow the current split from Champions League, Europa League and Conference League clubs to 50%-30%-20% of Uefa revenue, with that money to be pooled proportionately into the domestic leagues of those qualifying rather than all being given to the clubs themselves.

Irish club Bohemians are one of the original members of the UEC, a breakaway group from the European Clubs Association.

However, given the influence of the biggest clubs within UC3, such a model is unlikely to be given much consideration.

Uefa and Relevent declined to comment.