The value of the last 16 teams in Champion's League

We are used, like it or not, to measure almost everything in monetary terms. Football couldn't be an exception with millions of Euros spent for star players every season. However, it is only a factor among others that contribute to the football ecosystem. Teams and players prove their capabilities in the court. In this article we will have a look on the economics of the Uefa Champions League best 16 teams for this season.

The group stage is over for the 2013/14 season with no huge surprises. Manchester City managed to qualify to the next round after last year's catastrophe (not qualified even in the Europa League with only 3 points collected). The biggest surprise for this season was Juventus, not qualifying to the last 16, losing their last game against Galatasaray in a 2 days battle due to bad weather conditions in Turkey last week.

As for the 16 qualified teams, they have an accumulated market value of €5,2 billion. Real Madrid is on the top of the list with more than €580 mil. in market value with Barcelona being in the second position with a million euros difference. The gap between Real and Olympiacos (the Greek champion and last in the market value index) is more than €500 mil. In the table below you can have the full details:

 Team                              Value                    Country

Real Madrid CF	583.500.000 €	Spain
FC Barcelona	582.300.000 €	Spain
FC Bayern München	487.200.000 €	Germany
Manchester City FC	472.750.000 €	England
Chelsea FC	458.750.000 €	England
Manchester United FC	405.000.000 €	England
Paris Saint-Germain FC	361.250.000 €	France
Arsenal FC	355.500.000 €	England
Borussia Dortmund	293.800.000 €	Germany
Club Atlético de Madrid	255.000.000 €	Spain
AC Milan	219.500.000 €	Italy
FC Zenit	205.000.000 €	Russia
FC Schalke 04	184.300.000 €	Germany
Galatasaray AŞ	157.350.000 €	Turkey
Bayer 04 Leverkusen	137.100.000 €	Germany
Olympiacos FC	72.150.000 €	Greece

Participating in Champions League is very important for the clubs' economics. In order to understand this let's have a look the economic impact of last season. During the 2012/13 season, the revenues of the 32 teams of the Group stage exceeded the amount of €900 mil. Juventus earned the most (€65 mil.) due to big market pool revenues (€45 mil.). Bayern, last season's champions, earned €55 mil, €10 mil. less than last year's Italian Champion. But what are the sources of these revenues? Uefa divides them into:

• Group stage fee (fixed amount for all the teams participating in the group stage)
• Performance bonus (according to their performance within the group)
• Market Pool (value of the television market in each country)
• Participation in knock-out phases (fixed amounts in every stage)

Participating in Champions League is very important for all European teams, both for economic reasons as well as for prestige. It provides a good source for revenues but also for global recognition as it is transmitted around the globe. 

However, on the other side of revenues is the cost parameter. A lot of teams, in Europe mainly, are spending massively. For this purpose Uefa has found Financial Fair Play, a measure to prevent professional football clubs spending more than they earn. More details for this initiative can be found in the official Uefa website here. It is early to see whether it will have an impact on football economics. 

We will be here to watch it together.