Football: Freiburg right in the middle: three-tier society European Cup

Freiburg, which meets Celta Vigo in the first European Cup quarter-final in its history on Thursday (9 p.m./RTL), is right in the middle. The Baden team would receive 4.2 million euros from UEFA if they reach the semi-finals of the Europa League. Oliver Leki would also like to take them with him. If Freiburg’s CFO has his way, they should earn even more in the Europa League. The vice president of the German Football League thinks that something could still be trimmed from the Champions League.

An opinion that they definitely share with FSV Mainz 05, who will face Racing Strasbourg in the Conference League on Thursday (9 p.m./RTL+).

That’s what the discussion is about

UEFA is distributing 2.5 billion euros to the 36 participants in the Champions League this season. In the Europa League it is 565 million, in the Conference League just 285 million. If Leki has his way, the discrepancy is clearly too big – even with a view to the Bundesliga.

In order to make the competition in this country more exciting again, in his opinion it would be, among other things, “an effective approach to distribute the astronomical sums that UEFA receives from the Champions League marketing in a more balanced way to the starters in the Europa League and Conference League,” Leki recently told “Sport Bild”.

“The charm of a redistribution would be that the international competitiveness of our top clubs would not be weakened because the top clubs in the other major leagues would also have to forego money in the same way,” explained Leki. He expects the German representatives at UEFA and the European club association EFC to support this.

That’s what other clubs say

More excitement in the national title fight through a redistribution of revenue from the premier class? For Jan-Christian Dreesen, CEO of FC Bayern Munich, an “illusion”. Top clubs from England or Spain could also “absorb such a cut much more easily” because more TV money flows there. This would potentially weaken the German Champions League starters in international competition, he warns. They also see no need for action at Borussia Dortmund or RB Leipzig.

In Mainz they have the same opinion as in Freiburg. He could only agree with Leki that a new distribution key would be desirable in the interests of competition, said sports director Christian Heidel. “But I’ve been saying that for over five years.”

Alexander Wehrle, CEO of the recently resurgent VfB Stuttgart, also recently told the German Press Agency that a club like Dortmund is “years or decades ahead” of the Swabians in terms of sales – because it regularly plays in the premier class.

This is what you can earn in the competitions

The huge differences become clear when it comes to the entry fee. A club that takes part in the Champions League receives more than 18 million euros. There are a good four million in the Europa League and three million in the Conference League. For a win in the league phase of the premier class there are over two million euros, in the Europa League 450,000 and in the Conference League 400,000 euros.

If Bayern prevail in the giant duel with Real Madrid, they would receive 15 million for reaching the semi-finals of the Champions League. For Freiburg to reach the semi-finals in the Europa League there would be the aforementioned 4.2 million euros, for Mainz in the Conference League 2.5 million euros.

And for the title? Whoever wins the Champions League in Budapest in May will receive 25 million for the triumph including reaching the final. The Europa League winner in Istanbul gets 13 million euros, the Conference League champion in Leipzig 7 million euros.