Matt Clark
28 Mar 2003, 07:14 AM
UEFA expect Champions League TV cash to fall by £110m
Europe's top clubs will all receive less money from next season's Champions League after UEFA faced up to the end of football's golden years by revealing they expect a "drastic decrease" in television revenue from the competition.
UEFA are predicting TV money from the Champions League to drop £110m next year compared to this season when the new deals are finalised. The figures were revealed in UEFA's budget for next year at the annual congress of European football's governing body in Rome. Under the current deal, the
Champions League TV rights are worth just over £480m a year and those are expected to drop to £375m.
The final figure is not yet known as several countries have yet to sign a new TV deal.
Arsenal and Football Association vice-chairman David Dein, also in Rome for the congress, said: "We will just have to grin and bear it. "UEFA still have to complete deals with other major markets including Italy so we cannot be sure of the exact figures yet - and the value of the new
contract in England has actually increased." Aigner pointed out that the new format of the Champions League, with the second group phase scrapped, would mean fewer matches for the 32 clubs who
qualify. He added: "The number of matches is going down and it seems logical the pay goes down too but per match it is keeping around the same level as before."
Europe's top clubs will all receive less money from next season's Champions League after UEFA faced up to the end of football's golden years by revealing they expect a "drastic decrease" in television revenue from the competition.
UEFA are predicting TV money from the Champions League to drop £110m next year compared to this season when the new deals are finalised. The figures were revealed in UEFA's budget for next year at the annual congress of European football's governing body in Rome. Under the current deal, the
Champions League TV rights are worth just over £480m a year and those are expected to drop to £375m.
The final figure is not yet known as several countries have yet to sign a new TV deal.
Arsenal and Football Association vice-chairman David Dein, also in Rome for the congress, said: "We will just have to grin and bear it. "UEFA still have to complete deals with other major markets including Italy so we cannot be sure of the exact figures yet - and the value of the new
contract in England has actually increased." Aigner pointed out that the new format of the Champions League, with the second group phase scrapped, would mean fewer matches for the 32 clubs who
qualify. He added: "The number of matches is going down and it seems logical the pay goes down too but per match it is keeping around the same level as before."