Kieran Maguire: Liverpool in line for ‘bigger slice of the pie’ as £5bn-plus windfall on cards
Liverpool are in line for a bigger slice of the pie as UEFA looks to grow its Champions League revenue.
That is the view of finance guru Kieran Maguire, speaking exclusively to Football Insider about the latest developments behind the scenes at European football’s governing body headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland.
A well-placed source told Football Insider on Tuesday (25 October) that UEFA are looking to expand their media rights team in order to negotiate new and improved TV deal ahead of the 2024-25 campaign.
The Champions League is set to expand from 32 to 36 teams under a new Swiss-system format after that juncture.
UEFA’s revenues for 2020-21, the last financial year on record, totalled £4.91billion.
That was a record for the organisation, although it should be noted that cash flows were boosted significantly by the quadrennial European Championship.
Maguire explained how increased turnover for UEFA would benefit Liverpool.
“Uefa are extremely confident that they can extract maximum value post-2024 from the expanded Champions League,” he told Football Insider’s Adam Williams.
“They believe the increased number of matches will be linked to increased commercial revenues. They have already had some success with the broadcast deals as well.
“This can only benefit clubs that appear in the Champions League on a regular basis.
“There are two issues here. A) the pie is growing and B) we need to know how it is going to be sliced.
“As far as the European Club Association is concerned, some of the clubs from the more modest-sized nations are unhappy, especially with the coefficient system which is effectively used to ringfence as much money as possible for the established elite.“
In other news, pundit suggests Liverpool set for January “bidding war” after source’s “box-office” signing reveal.