The winners of this summer’s Club World Cup will take home up to US$125 million.
Tournament organisers Fifa released more details this week of how the US$1 billion of prize money on offer to competing clubs would be split. Soccer’s global governing body confirmed teams will share US$525 million in participation fees, but this pot will not be distributed evenly.
The appearance fees going to Europe’s 12 clubs will be on a sliding scale from US$38.19 million at the top end to US$12.81 million at the bottom, determined by a ranking based on “sporting and commercial criteria”.
It is understood Fifa worked with the European Club Association (ECA) on the distribution arrangements.
There is a sliding scale between continents too, with South America’s entrants each receiving US$15.21 million, while Auckland City, Oceania’s entrant, will receive US$3.58 million.
On top of that, there is a further US$475 million available to reflect sporting performance at the tournament in the United States, where teams will play a maximum of seven matches. A group-stage win will be worth US$2 million while US$40 million is the prize on offer for winning the final.
The figures compare favourably with Uefa Champions League participation, where the competition winners could earn around €160 million (US$172.5 million) this season, but would have had to play at least 15 matches.
Fifa has stressed it will not keep a single dollar from the Club World Cup, with all the money being ploughed back into the club game. It also hopes to be able to distribute up to US$250 million in solidarity to non-participating clubs.
More details on who will benefit from that will be released after the tournament, which which will take place in the United States from 14th June to 13th July.
In December it was announced Fifa had agreed a deal with streaming platform DAZN for the global broadcast rights to the Club World Cup, worth a reported US$1 billion.
Fifa has also secured sponsorship deals with Hisense, Coca-Cola, AB InBev and Bank of America.
The tournament’s birth has been a troubled one, and has been seen as the tipping point which prompted player unions and domestic leagues to launch ongoing legal actions against what they see as Fifa’s failure to consult on the international match calendar.
There is also concern among Europe’s leagues about the potentially distortive impact of prize money from international club tournaments on competitive balance at domestic level.
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