Juventus tops UEFA Champions League payments table
Juventus topped the 2012-13 Champions League prize money table, collecting more than 65.3 million euros ($86.3 million) from UEFA despite losing in the quarterfinals to eventual winner Bayern Munich.
UEFA published figures Tuesday showing that Bayern got 55 million euros ($77.7 million) in payments and bonuses, edging beaten finalist Borussia Dortmund (54.16 million euros; $71.55 million).
UEFA shared 904.6 million ($1.196 billion) euros in group-stage payments to 32 teams in the first of a three-year cycle of commercial contracts.
Juventus was helped to the top by a near-45 million euro ($59.5 million) share of Italian broadcast rights. AC Milan, beaten in the last-16 by Barcelona, collected 51.4 million euros ($67.9 million).
The two Italian powers cashed in as the only Serie A clubs to reach the group stage - boosting their income for UEFA's ''Financial Fair Play'' calculations which require clubs to aim toward breaking even on their football business. In recent years, Italian clubs have struggled to match the earning streams of the biggest clubs in England, Germany and Spain.
Real Madrid got 48.4 million euros ($63.9 million) from UEFA, and fellow semifinalist Barcelona got 45.5 million euros ($60.1 million). In sixth place was Paris Saint-Germain, receiving 44.7 million euros ($59.1 million).
Manchester United, another last-16 loser, topped English clubs in the Champions League with 35.5 million euros ($47 million).
However, Chelsea earned more in total when its UEFA payments for a winning run to the Europa League title were added. Chelsea got 30.777 million euros ($40.7 million) from the Champions League and, after failing to advance from its group, added an extra 10.7 million euros ($14.1 million) from joining the second-tier competition.
Chelsea had been the biggest Champions League earner the previous season when its title run earned 59.9 million euros (then $73.1 million).
Arsenal collected 33.523 million euros ($44.33 million) in total for reaching the Champions League last 16, adding 31.423 million euros ($41.53 million) from the group-stage to an earlier playoff round fee of 2.1 million euros ($2.8 million).
Manchester City, which finished last in its group, received 28.777 million euros ($38 million) from UEFA.
The lowest earner among Champions League teams was Dinamo Zagreb which failed to win a match and collected 10.5 million euros ($13.88 million).
BATE Borisov received 10.89 million euros ($14.4 million), including a relatively tiny 290,000 euros ($383,000) as its share of TV payments from the Belarus rights deal.
All 32 teams got a basic 8.6 million euros fee ($11.36 million) for reaching the group stage, and then earned 1 million euros ($1.32 million) per win and 500,000 euros for each draw. Payments steadily increased for each knockout round.
The Champions League also subsidized the Europa League for the first time, allowing UEFA to distribute 209 million euros ($276 million) from the group-stage onwards to the second-tier competition.
Fenerbahce, which reached the semifinals, got the biggest payment with 11.18 million euros ($14.78 million).
Liverpool, a five-time European champion, got 5.03 million euros ($6.65 million) from its Europa League last-32 run. Liverpool did not qualify for UEFA competitions this season, further widening the revenue gap to its English rivals.