Kieran Maguire: Newcastle United set to land game-changing jackpot after £13m reveal
Champions League prize money could be ‘game-changing’ for Newcastle United after Real Madrid and Chelsea earned £120million from winning the competition.
That is the view of finance expert Kieran Maguire, who spoke exclusively to Football Insider about the prize money available to the Magpies in Europe this season.
Newcastle were drawn into an incredibly tough Champions League group this week that includes AC Milan, Borussia Dortmund and Paris Saint-Germain.
The Tyneside club will face a difficult task to finish in the top two spots and reach the knockout stages, but huge financial rewards await them if they do.
As per official Uefa documents, Newcastle have already earned £13.3million for qualifying for the group stages, while each win in the groups will earn them £2.4million.
However, Maguire explains that Newcastle’s poor record in Europe means that even if they won the competition this year they wouldn’t match the £120million earned by previous winners Chelsea and Real Madrid.
“Real Madrid and Chelsea generated around £120million in terms of prize money alone from winning the Champions League,” Maguire told Football Insider’s Sean Fisher.
“But even if Newcastle won the tournament this season they won’t be at that level and part of that is to do with the Uefa coefficient system.
“Each of the 32 clubs in the competition are graded on their historic success in Europe and Newcastle have not been significant players in European competitions for a while.
“It works out at £1 million per team, so the side with the highest coefficient is getting around £32million extra.
“Having said that, each victory even in the group stage is worth around £2.4million, so every match has financial benefit.
“Getting through the group stages does two things – first of all, it increases your Uefa coefficient points and secondly, the value of each victory increases.
“It also has to be remembered that every time Newcastle are hosting a game at St James’s Park you’re looking at £2million coming in from gate receipts.
“So progress in Europe could be game-changing for Newcastle, especially if they get through to the knockout phase.“
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