€39.875 million and counting – Celtic’s Champions League revenue to date | OneFootball

The UEFA Champions League prize pot makes for very interesting reading…

Celtic captain Callum McGregor walks out of the tunnel prior to the UEFA Champions League match between GNK Dinamo and Celtic FC at Stadion Maksimir on December 10, 2024. (Photo by Jurij Kodrun/Getty Images)

It shows how important it is Celtic compete at this level regularly, or better still on an annual basis. The bounty on offer for the Champions League is as we know very lucrative, but today it was laid out just how much important competing at this stage is to our football club.

According to a reliable data site Celtic has made a whopping €39.875 million (£32.85 million) thus far in our European campaign.

When you take into consideration that we still have two games remaining we have the opportunity to make much more with €2.1 million on offer for a win and €0.7 for a draw, which can see our prize pot can swell even further.

With a play off place still much achievable those riches can grow with €1 million guaranteed for reaching the play offs, and a whopping €11 million on offer for reaching the last 16.

Celtic players warming up prior to the UEFA Champions League match between GNK Dinamo and Celtic FC at Stadion Maksimir on December 10, 2024. (Photo by Jurij Kodrun/Getty Images)

That pales into significance though with the whopping €82 million earned by Liverpool who occupy top spot. Indeed all clubs from the so called bigger leagues who are in or about the top eight have earned upwards of €60million so far.

As for Celtic however, it shows how important it is to compete at this level purely on a financial basis.

In comparison to the clubs from the big five leagues in England, Germany, Spain, Italy and France, Celtic’s means of generating in income is currently hindered by our modest footballing landscape in Scotland, where domestic television deals are minuscule compared to the riches the likes of Liverpool, Juventus, Barcelona, PSG and Bayern Munich enjoy. As per ExpressVPN’s report on the most streamed sports events, it’s clear that Celtic’s best route to a competitive level of revenue will be to perform in the UEFA Champions League. This could help close the broadcasting revenue gap that exists because of the way satellite broadcasting changed the landscape.

Reo Hatate of Celtic is challenged by Lukas Kacavenda of GNK Dinamo during the UEFA Champions League match between GNK Dinamo and Celtic FC at Stadion Maksimir on December 10, 2024. (Photo by Jurij Kodrun/Getty Images)

Celtic have already established a heathy lead at the top of the Scottish Premiership this season, being nine points ahead of second place Aberdeen with a game in hand on top. It would be a massive shock if Brendan Rodgers and his exciting side did not deliver the title for a fourth consecutive season and that would be 13 titles in 14 seasons for the club.

However, unlike this current season, automatic qualification to the Champions League next season is NOT on offer for the 2024/25 Scottish Champions, so we will be looking at a play-off round to secure our place. Great care has to be taken by the club in terms of having the squad fully up to speed because we have been there before on too many occasions when Celtic fail to grasp the bigger prize in these treacherous summer qualifiers.

Celtic’s Champions League success this season will also increase the chances of the Scottish Champions the season after next gaining an automatic place.

Callum McGregor is put under pressure by Martin Baturina during the UEFA Champions League match between GNK Dinamo and Celtic FC at Stadion Maksimir on December 10, 2024. (Photo by Jurij Kodrun/Getty Images)

Brendan Rodgers is building a team that is winning matches (two and counting) and can take away points against tough opponents such as current Europa League holders Atalanta. With just one defeat and three draws in the first six of eight matches Celtic looks like a club on the up in the new format Champions League.

Two games remain, the first against Switzerland’s Champions Young Boys who have lost all six matches to date and are already eliminated for the competition. Then it’s Aston Villa away at the end of January, a meeting of two former Champions of Europe in what should be a special occasion for both sets of supporters.

Brendan Rodgers, Manager of Celtic, and staff, enter the pitch prior to the UEFA Champions League match between GNK Dinamo and Celtic FC at Stadion Maksimir on December 10, 2024. (Photo by Jurij Kodrun/Getty Images)

Incidentally Aston Villa’s route back into the Champions League seems much more challenging than Celtic’s. They have to finish in the top four in the Premier League – currently they are in sixth place – or they have to win the Champions League. That’s possibly but also unlikely.

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