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- Uefa’s revenue for non-Euro competitions exceeds €4bn for first time
- European soccer’s governing body posts €76.3m net loss
The Uefa Women’s Champions League (UWCL) brought in €15.2 million (US$16.6 million) in revenue for the 2021/22 season, an increase of €13.8 million (US$15.1 million) from the previous year.
Uefa cited the decision to centralise the competition’s sponsorship and media rights as the main driver for the increase. European soccer’s governing body revealed that 53 per cent of UWCL revenue came from media rights sales and 45 per cent from commercial rights.
Uefa added that it was confident that it could identify ‘untapped resources’ to grow UWCL revenue in the future.
Prior to 2021/22, Uefa had only marketed the UWCL final, with individual clubs selling the rights for their home legs in earlier rounds. Sponsorship rights for the final were bundled with the rights to the men’s Uefa Champions League final.
Uefa added that it distributed €10 million (US$10.9 million) from its men’s club competitions to support the women’s game, as well as investing an additional €15 million (US$16.4 million).
Competition costs for the UWCL stood at €16.2 million (US$17.7 million), which Uefa said reflected its drive to lift the women’s game to a ‘much higher level’.
Uefa also announced that cumulative revenue for non-Euro competitions passed €4 billion (US$4.4 billion) for the first time, thanks to the introduction of the new Europa Conference League competition as well as the new format and commercial structure for the UWCL.
Total revenue for 2021/22 stood at €4.1 billion (US$4.5 billion), down from €5.7 billion (US$6.2 billion) in 2020/21 when the rescheduled Euro 2020 took place. 89 per cent of total revenue was generated by club competitions in 2021/22.
Broken down, media rights revenues accounted for €3.42 billion (US$3.73 billion), while commercial rights brought in €533.7 million (US$582.3 million). Ticket and hospitality revenue was responsible for €63.8 million (US$69.6 million).
Uefa’s net loss for 2021/22 came to €76.3 million (US$83.3 million). The organisation said the loss was in line with its long-term planning and budget.
Meanwhile, Football Association (FA) chair Debbie Hewitt has been elected as the British vice-president on the Fifa Council.
Hewitt, who became the FA’s first female chair in its near 170-year existence in January last year, was chosen for the role on the global governing body’s most senior committee ahead of incumbent David Martin from Northern Ireland at Uefa Congress in Lisbon on 5th April.
Hewitt secured 39 of the votes from Uefa’s 55 national associations and now has a mandate on the Fifa Council through to 2027.
Earlier, Laura McAllister officially became the first Welsh person to serve on Uefa’s executive committee.
Former Wales captain McAllister, who is the deputy chair of Uefa’s women’s football committee, was standing unopposed for the position on the ExCo reserved for a female member and was elected by acclamation.
Norwegian federation president Lise Klaveness had been bidding to join McAllister on the ExCo but failed to secure one of the seven other open spots.
Klaveness, who spoke out against the decision to allow Qatar to host the 2022 men’s World Cup at last year’s Fifa Congress and was the first woman to run against men for a place on the ExCo, received 18 votes from the 55 member associations.
Klaveness’ counterpart at the Scottish Football Association (SFA), Rod Petrie, also missed out, securing only 15 votes.
UEFA’s president, Aleksander Ceferin, had earlier been re-elected for a new four-year mandate by acclamation, with no challenger standing against him.
PA Media contributed to this report.
