The final of the inaugural UEFA Europa Conference League will be played between AS Roma and Feyenoord on Thursday, May 26.
The UEFA Europa Conference League, the third-tier club competition in European football below the UEFA Champions League and the UEFA Europa League, operates on similar lines as its sibling competitions.
The winner of the UEFA Europa Conference League will secure automatic qualification to the Europa League's group stage for the next season.
UEFA Europa Conference League prize money
The UEFA Europa Conference League operates on a prize money model that is used in the Champions League and Europa League.
An approximate €235 million is distributed among participating teams. The amount is further divided into:
- 40% will be allocated to starting fees (€94 million)
- 40% will be allocated to performance-related fixed amounts (€94 million)
- 10% will be allocated to coefficient-based amounts (€23.5 million)
- 10% will be allocated to variable amounts (market pool) (€23.5 million)
UEFA Europa Conference League prize money for qualifiers
If a team qualifies for the group stage of the UEFA Europa Conference League, they are entitled to receive a base amount of €2.94 million. Moreover, teams who participate in the qualifying rounds and fail to earn a ticket to the group stage also return with a fixed amount. The breakdown is as follows:
First qualifying round elimination: €150,000
Second qualifying round elimination: €350,000
Third qualifying round elimination: €550,000
Play-off round elimination: €750,000
Not qualified for group stage: €260,000
UEFA Europa Conference League prize money for group stage
A team winning a group stage fixture in the UEFA Europa Conference League is rewarded with €500,000, while a draw means contesting teams earn €166,000 each. At the end of the group stage schedule, each group winner pockets €650,000, in addition to the money earned from wins and draws, whereas the runner-ups are given €325,000.
Per match win in group stage: €500,000
Per match drawn in group stage: €166,000
Group stage winners: €650,000
Group stage runners-up: €325,000
UEFA Europa Conference League prize money for knockout phase
Teams progressing into the knockout phase of the UEFA Europa Conference League receive a significantly larger amount than in the group stage. Teams that qualify for the quarter-finals and the semi-finals pocket a base fee of €1 million and €2 million respectively.
Here’s the break up.
Qualification for round of 32: €300,000
Qualification for round of 16: €600,000
Qualification for quarter-final: €1 million
Qualification for semi-final: €2 million
What is the UEFA Europa Conference League prize money for the winner and runners-up?
The winner of the UEFA Europa Conference League receives a cash prize of €5 million, while the runner-up will return home with €3 million.
Winner: €5 million
Runner up: €3 million
If a team has won all six games in the group stage and goes on to win the UEFA Europa Conference League, they stand to win a total amount of approximately €20 million.
The runner-up can receive a grand total of €17 million if they win all their matches barring the final. The figure also includes the TV market pool share, which is distributed among the teams in addition to the base fees.
TV market pool share for UEFA Europa Conference League
The total TV market pool share for the UEFA Europa Conference League is set at €23.5 million. Below is the breakdown of the fees div at every stage.
Group Stage: €4.70 million
Knockout Round Playoffs: €1.76 million
Round of 16: €2.36 million
Quarter-finals: €1.53 million
Semi-finals: €940,000
UEFA Europa Conference League final: €470,500
Overall TV Pool adjusted : €11.75 million
The remaining share (€11.75m) will be split among the clubs representing national associations in the group stage on the basis of their performance in the previous season’s domestic competitions.
Author: William Paul
Featured photo: AFP / FABRICE COFFRINI
