The new season of European competitions kicked off on Tuesday with the Champions League preliminary round draw, just three days after this year’s competition final.

The first draws for the Greek teams will take place next Wednesday. The start will be with the 2nd qualifying round of the Champions League, where Panathinaikos will play and with that Olympiacos will also know an opponent in the 3rd qualifying round of the Europa League, while a little later the draw for the 2nd qualifying round of the Europa Conference League will take place held where PAOK and Aris are based.

Our four teams still have a long way to go to reach the groups of some competitors and only AEK, waiting in the Champions League 3rd qualifying round, has a guaranteed European presence until December and with it quite a good financial harvest.

UEFA has blown its budget

The UEFA budget for 2023-2024 shows an increase in revenue of more than two billion euros. According to Mundo Deportivo, there will be 6,686,721 out of 4,316,518 in the period 2022-2023, of which an estimated 3,804,395 will be redistributed to football, compared to 3,415,344 this year.

Of that money, 331,000,000 will go to the 32 teams that will take part in the finals of Euro 2024 in Germany, an extraordinary expense for UEFA’s budgets.

Of ongoing costs, Champions League awards will rise to 2,176,620 from 2,159,475,000 this season, representing 57% of the total money UEFA will allocate to clubs.

Europa League teams will collect 499,896,000 out of 495,972,000 over the 2022–2023 period, and Europa Conference League teams will share 252,591,000.

Champions League money

From 2021 and the creation of the Europa Conference League and due to the existing interconnectedness, teams competing in the qualifying stages of the Champions League will no longer receive any money. UEFA compensates them when they are banned from European competitions, which is not the case when they are banned from top club competition qualifiers.

Payouts begin in the playoffs, where each of the six eliminated teams receives 5,000,000, and continue through the Europa League groups. The teams that qualify for the Champions League, as well as those who are already there, will receive the participation bonus of 15,640,000. From then on, each win in the groups corresponds to 2,800,000, each draw to 900,000 and to this money are added the bonuses of the market pool, the system of 10-year presence in European competitions and of course the bonuses from possible qualifications in the next stages.

THE COMPETITION PRI

• Banned from the playoffs: 5,000,000
• Join the groups: 15,640,000
• Victory in the groups: 2,800,000
• Draw the groups: 900,000
• Participation in the round of 16: 9,600,000
• Participation in the quarterfinals: 10,600,000
• participation in the semifinals: 12,500,000
• participation in the final: 15,500,000
• Conquest Bounty: 20,000,000

Money from the Europa League

In the second-tier UEFA competition, participation in the 3rd qualifying round and the playoffs does not bring any money. However, the presence in the groups leads to a participation bonus of 3,630,000. Each win is worth 630,000, each draw 210,000 and from then on additional income from the same categories that existed in the Champions League (market pool, 10-year presence in Europe, premium qualification).

THE COMPETITION PRI

• Join the groups: 3,630,000
• Victory in the groups: 630,000
• Draw the groups: 210,000
• First place in the groups: 1,100,000
• Second place in the groups: 550,000
• Participation in the playoffs for the round of 16: 500,000
• Participation in the round of 16: 1,200,000
• Participation in the quarterfinals: 1,800,000
• participation in the semifinals: 2,800,000
• participation in the final: 4,600,000
• Conquest Bounty: 8,600,000

Europa Conference League money

In this case, the process shows clear changes. The teams eliminated from each qualifying round receive money as this is where their European tour ends. These start at 150,000 in the 1st qualifier and go up to 750,000 in the playoffs. However, if the disqualified team is the champion, they will receive an additional 260,000.

Participation in the group stage of the competition represents a bounty of 2,940,000. Each win in this phase brings 500,000 and each draw 166,000 and from there the well-known categories of market pool, 10-year presence in Europe and possible qualifications come into play.

THE COMPETITION PRI

• Disqualification in the 1st qualifying tournament: 150,000
• Elimination in the 2nd qualifying game: 350,000
• Retired in the 3rd qualifying game: 550,000
• Banned from the playoffs: 750,000
• Join the groups: 2,940,000
• Victory in the groups: 500,000
• Draw the groups: 166,000
• First place in the groups: 650,000
• Second place in the groups: 325,000
• Participation in the playoffs for the round of 16: 300,000
• Participation in the round of 16: 600,000
• Participation in the quarterfinals: 1,000,000
• participation in the semifinals: 2,000,000
• participation in the final: 3,000,000
• Conquest Bounty: 2,000,000

What can AEK collect?

AEK begins its European presence from the 3rd qualifying round of the Champions League. In the ideal case of qualifying for the group stage, he will start with the starting bonus, which is 15,640,000. Adding to that earnings is earnings from the 10-year presence, which AEK doesn’t expect to pay a huge amount from. That season, the team with the highest attendance garnered 32 shares from 1,137,000 viewers and the team with the worst attendance only one share. The Union is expected to end up in the last spots this year, but may also look to increase revenue by marketing pools to increase revenue.

If it is eliminated in the 3rd qualifying game, it goes on to the Europa League playoffs, where it also does not collect any money. He needs to make the tournament’s groups to start from 3,630,000. AEK expects more shares than Champions League but less revenue as each share equaled 132,000 this year. If he reaches the Europa League group from the Champions League playoffs, he will add 5,000,000 to his income.

Eventually, should it fail in the first two competitions, it will end up in the Europa Conference League groups. There, the guaranteed income is 2,940,000 from the stock award and each share equals 44,500 (with AEK hoping to be at the top of that list, with the 32-share cap at 1,420,000).

The Union are likely to be guaranteed at least 6,000,000 players along with the Europa Conference League market pool at worst and will determine their fate from there. Qualifying for the Champions League groups will catapult them to levels close to 25,000,000 and everything will depend on their performance on the pitch.

If they make it into the Europa League groups, they’re guaranteed an eight-figure sum and can only look up with possible wins, draws and of course qualification (especially if they’re eliminated from the Champions League playoffs).

If he eventually finds himself in the third division groups of the competition, he could reach eight figures along with the win and draw bonuses, as well as the qualification he has to achieve due to the dynamics of the tournament here too.

What can Panathinaikos collect?

The dates for the “Greens” are the same as for AEK in terms of qualifying for the Champions League groups which will fill their coffers with at least 25,000,000.

If eliminated before the playoffs, it will also follow Union dates in both existing group stages. In the Europa League, he expects an eight-digit sum, which can be over 15,000,000 with good results or even qualifications. A lot will be measured by results in the Europa Conference League, but the eight-figure sum is an achievable goal.

The “Greens” also have the option of being eliminated from a competition before the group stage. In this case, it will bid farewell to Europe with 750,000 from the Europa Conference League playoffs.

What can Olympiacos collect?

Olympiacos will start its presence from the 3rd qualifying round of the Europa League, which means that it must also reach the groups of the institution to secure an initial amount of 8,000,000 (it is the Greek team that will be higher in the share system and therefore (the minimum income is higher than the total starting income) and then to strive for the best possible results and possible qualifications.

If they are eliminated in the playoffs or 3rd qualifier and then qualify for the Europa Conference League groups, then the Piraeus can expect an eight-figure sum (though not guaranteed) and then the harvest of wins and – most importantly – increase. qualifiers.

When they are finally eliminated in the Europa Conference League playoffs, they have won only 750,000.

What can PAOK and Ares collect?

The two Thessalonikis share a common destiny as they start in the same qualifying round of the same event. That means the minimum they will leave Europe with this year is 350,000 in the event of a straight exit, or 550,000 in the event of a qualifier, or 750,000 in the playoffs.

Should they manage to qualify in the groups, they too will be chasing eight times the sum from all possible sources of income.