A radical plan to dismantle football’s financial hierarchy by redirecting billions of euros in Champions League cash is being presented to Europe’s powerbrokers, as the bidding war for future television rights reaches its climax.
The proposal, drawn up by the Union of European Clubs (UEC), calls for a fundamental overhaul of how UEFA distributes its competition revenue. It comes at a critical juncture, with UEFA anticipating a 10% rise in media rights value for the 2027-2031 cycle and auctions in Europe’s top five markets already securing a substantial uplift.
A New Model for the New Money
Under the current system, a vast €3.317bn prize pot is divided amongst clubs competing in the Champions, Europa, and Conference Leagues, drawn from annual revenues of €4.4bn. Only €308m is set aside for solidarity payments to the thousands of clubs who do not qualify.
The UEC’s model would seize approximately €2bn of that prize money and funnel it into Europe’s domestic leagues. The money would be pooled proportionately based on which leagues supply qualifying clubs, not paid directly to the qualifiers themselves. Within each league, 85% would be shared equally among top-flight clubs, with 15% going to professional second-tier sides.
This would dramatically alter the split between UEFA’s three tournaments. Presently, Champions League clubs take 74% of the pot, with 17% for the Europa League and 9% for the Conference League. The UEC proposes a 50%-30%-20% division instead.
Crucially, clubs succeeding in Europe would still be richly rewarded, retaining their share of around €1.3bn in “performance fee” money. The plan’s architects argue this ensures sporting achievement remains lucrative while addressing systemic inequality.
Scrapping the “Value Pillar”
At the heart of the proposal is the removal of UEFA’s controversial “value pillar,” which accounts for 35% of prize money. This pillar allocates funds based on the size of a country’s media market and the historical performance of its clubs—a mechanism critics say entrenches the advantage of wealthy leagues.
The UEC would absorb this portion into its new €2bn distribution sum, making it independent of a nation’s broadcast clout. A spokesperson for the UEC told the Guardian the current concentration of money “poses a serious risk of Uefa club competitions becoming stale and predictable, with the same clubs featuring in the later rounds, year after year.”
The Stakes for Smaller Leagues
The impact would be most acute in small and mid-sized leagues, where domestic television deals are modest and the financial distortion caused by European windfalls is severe. The UEC cites the Dutch Eredivisie as an example: under their model, clubs that did not qualify for Europe would see their payment rocket from €1.1m to €4.4m. Conversely, the league winners’ direct European cash injection would be more than halved, to €27m.
“Do we allow increased polarisation and predictability to ruin the magic of football?” the UEC spokesperson asked. “Or is there a commonsense way to distribute UCC income that strengthens clubs, leagues, Uefa competitions and the entire pyramid?”
A Battle for Football’s Soul and Its Broadcast Billions
The push comes as the European football landscape is being reshaped by vast new media deals. The auction for rights in the top five markets for the 2027-31 cycle has raised $11.5bn, with a joint venture between UEFA and the European Football Clubs (EFC) group set to receive $2.8bn per season.
In a major shift, Paramount has won the UK and German rights from 2027, with its UK deal alone worth over £1bn. This will fragment the market further; from 2027, UK fans may need subscriptions to Sky Sports, TNT Sports, Paramount+, and Amazon Prime Video to watch all top European and domestic football.
It is against this backdrop of soaring revenue and complex viewing changes that the UEC is making its case. The body, launched in 2023 to represent non-elite clubs, presented its plan to the general assembly of the European Leagues Association in Sofia this week. It is not officially recognised by UEFA, which stated the solidarity system was reviewed with stakeholders before the current cycle and would be revisited “when the time is due.”
The Institutional Battle Lines
The proposal pits the UEC against the officially recognised European Football Clubs (EFC)—formerly the European Club Association (ECA)—which represents over 800 clubs and has a powerful joint venture with UEFA. The UEC, which operates on a one-club-one-vote basis, argues the EFC is dominated by elite interests.
This sentiment is echoed by figures like La Liga president Javier Tebas, a UEC supporter who has stated the ECA “only represented the elite.” The UEC itself directly referenced the “breakaway Super League debacle,” accusing Europe’s most powerful clubs of exerting political pressure.
While the UEC lacks formal power, its ideas may find sympathy among smaller members of the large EFC group. UEFA, for its part, has already moved to increase solidarity, nearly doubling the proportion of revenue for non-participating clubs for the 2024-27 cycle and introducing a new “Competitive Balance” pillar.
The UEC’s broader agenda includes a separate “Player Development Reward” scheme, proposing 5% of UEFA revenues be allocated to clubs that train players who later compete in Europe. This underscores its focus on systemic fairness, arguing current models are outdated.
As UEFA and the EFC negotiate the financial distribution for the 2027-31 cycle, the UEC’s radical blueprint presents a clear alternative vision. It asks whether European football’s governing bodies will “look past short-term interest and political pressure” to engage in a discussion that, in the UEC’s view, holds the promise of benefiting the entire sport.
