(SOURCE: La Gazzetta dello Sport, 19 July edition)

A La Gazzetta dello Sport calculation of UEFA Champions League income for the 2012/13 campaign has predicted that Milan will earn €51.357m, the fourth highest of any participant in last year’s competition. Juventus, at €65.315m, are predicted to earn the most.

€15.1m of that figure arises from the prize money – based on performances in the competition – with Juventus getting slightly more at €20.5m.

COMMENT – EXPLANATION OF THE MARKET POOL:

The reason for the large windfall lies in the quirks of UEFA’s TV market pool, which is used to distribute 50% of the total prize pool (the other 50% is based on the results). The value of the market pool is linked to each country’s TV rights and what they pay to screen UEFA Champions League matches.

The market pool is then divided amongst all clubs based on two factors – 50% of it is determined by performances in that year’s competition (I.E. how deep you go in the tournament), and the other half of the market pool is based on position in the league from the previous season – in this case the 2011/12 Serie A campaign.

Using those factors helps to explain why Juventus will earn more than Milan. They played more games  in the 2012/13 Champions League season – 10 to Milan’s eight – and finished first in the 2011/12 Serie A season to Milan’s second.

The other thing to note is that the market pool this year is going to just two clubs. In a more successful season for Italy where all three teams make the tournament proper, this sum would get divided by three, leaving Milan and Juventus with considerably less than they look set to earn this summer.