07 Mar 2016
FC Barcelona v Arsenal the richest last-16 tie in Champions League history
BY Matthew Campelli
FC Barcelona’s Champions League tie against Arsenal is the richest last-16 fixture in the competition’s history.
The Spanish champions and Premier League club have combined revenues of US$1.1bn (£773.4m, €996.3m). Arsenal lost the first leg of the tie 2-0 last week, with the concluding fixture set for 16 March.
It is the second last-16 tie which has smashed the billion dollar mark in terms of revenue, after Manchester United’s last-16 fixtures against Real Madrid in 2012/13 featured clubs with combined revenues of US$1bn (£703.1m, €942.7m).
According to Deloitte’s Sports Business Group, the combined revenue of last-16 clubs in the Champions League hit the US$4.7bn (£3.3bn, €4.3bn) mark, based on the Deloitte Football Money League.
Although four fixtures – Arsenal v Barcelona; Paris Saint-Germain v Chelsea; Roma v Real Madrid; Juventus v Bayern Munich – have combined revenues of more than US$825.8m (£580.6m, €750m), only the former eclipses the combined turnover of Manchester United and Liverpool (US$1bn, £705.5m, €911.3m) – the standout tie in the Europa League last-16 – demonstrating the growing financial muscle of the Premier League.
Indeed, the number of Football Money League top 20 clubs competing in the Champions League this season has decreased due to the dominance of Premier League clubs in the list (nine out of 20), while only three are still competing in the competition.
“Participating and progressing in the Champions League delivers significant revenue benefits in terms of UEFA distributions and matchday revenue, and success on the pitch can also translate into commercial uplifts,” said Dan Jones, partner in the Sports Business Group.
Close Window