AC Milan booked their place in the Champions League for the 2024-25 season and it will be their fourth straight campaign in the competition, but this time it will be different than the previous three.
We explained all the changes to the format of the tournament during a feature a few months ago, with the main alteration being the shift away from the current format’s group stage system. The present group stage includes 32 participants divided into eight groups of four.
From the 2024-25 season, 36 clubs will participate in the Champions League league phase (former group stage), giving four more sides entry into a single league competition with one big table. The teams will play eight matches in the new league phase and therefore will no longer play three opponents twice.
As this morning’s edition of Corriere della Sera (via Radio Rossonera) writes, the prize money on offer is are impressive. The new ‘Super Champions League’ has a total prize pool of €2.5bn, which means €500m more than the previous version.
Inter, Milan, Juventus and Atalanta will earn between €50-55m just for participating in the competition, slightly less than Bologna who have a lower historic ranking.
Then, each victory in the group is worth €2m, a sum that will increase based on the results. Whoever raises the trophy will get between €100-150m. To these we must add the substantial earnings linked to the box office and sponsorships.
The format changes and the system of distribution of revenues to the 36 teams also changes, with merit prevailing over history: it will give greater importance to participation and results, growing by 2.5% and 7.5% respectively, to the detriment of the market pool and historical ranking which will be merged and reduced by 10%.
