Who profited most from Club World Cup $1bn prize pot?
How much money was on offer?
The new look competition had a prize pot of $1bn (£726m) to give out to the 32 competing clubs, with $525m divided between all clubs for participation and $475m awarded on a performance-related basis.Money awarded for participation for European clubs was weighted by a ranking based on sporting and commercial criteria, meaning some were awarded more than others for taking part. European clubs were handed between $12.81m and $38.19m just for turning up, while teams from other continents were given a set fee - that was $15.21m for South America, $9.55m for North and Central America, and Asia and Africa, and $3.58m for Oceania.Fifa has not confirmed the individual amounts given to European clubs for taking part, so we have used estimates from football finance website The Swiss Ramble based on Uefa's club coefficient system. The prize money figures have been converted from US dollars into pound sterling.
The big winners
Tournament winners Chelsea were by far the most financially successful team, earning about £84m, while Paris St-Germain made about £78.4m in their run to the final.European clubs, who generally enjoyed larger participation fees, made an average of around £39m while impressive runs from the likes of semi-finalists Fluminense meant that South American clubs made £24m on average.Money was on offer for results in the group stage, with around £1.5m for a win and £730k for a draw.Five clubs, including Pachuca and Seattle Sounders, lost all three group games meaning they only received their participation fee.
Auckland City hit the jackpot
Despite prize money figures for the likes of part-time side Auckland City looking small, the competition has been incredibly lucrative for them within the context of their overall finances.
The £3.3m taken home by Auckland City was around seven times their overall 2024 revenue of approximately £488,000, while the £67m made by Real Madrid was just 4% of their 2024 figure of £901m.While this is a huge positive for the part-time club, football finance expert Kieran Maguire has concerns for the impact on other sides from New Zealand.He said: "They have earned so much money that it's difficult to see anybody being able to compete with them if they invest in the playing squad."And there's a huge incentive for them to do that because it enhances the chances of them qualifying for the next Club World Cup."It's good for them, but it's not necessarily good for the league when you're trying to sell a competitive league to broadcasters."
Extra transfer funds
For the European clubs, the extra revenue has been welcomed as a way of increasing their transfer budget.In line with Uefa rules, clubs are limited to spending 70% of their revenue on wages, transfers and agents' fees - so for every £50m earned, an extra £35m is available for recruitment.Some clubs have already paid off their summer transfer business by taking part in the competition.
More than 65% of Borussia Dortmund's £57.9m transfer business so far this summer has been paid off from their participation in the United States after they reached the quarter-final stage.The £27m Dortmund paid to Sunderland for Jobe Bellingham has already been completely paid off.Chelsea have spent £198m on reinforcements so far this summer on the likes of Joao Pedro and Liam Delap - £84m of that has been covered by their impressive run at the Club World Cup.Despite Manchester City's surprise last-16 exit to Al-Hilal, they still earned around £38m from the tournament - which equates to 35% of the summer business they have conducted so far.In more simple terms, it has paid for their £31m acquisition of Rayan Ait-Nouri from Wolves.Real Madrid paid Liverpool a fee of around £8.4m for Trent Alexander-Arnold to get him a month early to be part of their squad for the competition - that was paid off after just three matches."It's welcome for the accountants at football clubs. The business will be happy," said finance expert Maguire about the competition's lucrative incentives."But I'm not sure fans will be happy, particularly of European clubs, and it'll be the same for players and managers."We're reaching a crisis point as far as player welfare is concerned. We could be entering a period of conflict between players and owners."
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Reuters
15 minutes ago
- Reuters
Bank of Korea governor says US trade deal removes 'huge burden'
SEOUL, Aug 7 (Reuters) - South Korea's trade deal with the U.S. will "take a huge burden off" monetary policymakers at their upcoming meeting later this month, the country's central bank governor said on Thursday. "I thought we would be in a difficult situation if things went wrong with tariffs before the policy meeting, and while there might be different opinions, I think you did a difficult job at a difficult time," Bank of Korea Governor Rhee Chang-yong said at his first meeting with Finance Minister Koo Yun-cheol, according to a media pool report of his opening remarks. Koo visited the U.S. last week, just a week after he took office, as head of South Korea's negotiation team and clinched a trade deal with U.S. President Donald Trump that set import tariffs on South Korean goods at 15%, on par with Japan and the European Union. Trump had earlier threatened a tariff of 25%. Rhee did not elaborate when asked by local reporters what he meant by saying the agreement had removed a "huge burden". At the meeting at the Bank of Korea, Rhee and Koo agreed to communicate closely on policy coordination as well as to cooperate on long-term structural reforms, Koo's ministry said in a statement. The Bank of Korea kept its benchmark interest rate unchanged at 2.50% last month, but a majority of board members signalled another rate cut in the next three months and warned of "significant" economic uncertainty from the U.S. tariffs. Later in July, the Bank of Korea said a trade deal similar to that of Japan's would be marginally worse than the central bank's base-case growth projection, after data showed Asia's fourth-largest economy grew in the second quarter at the fastest pace in more than a year. The central bank next meets on August 28.
Times
42 minutes ago
- Times
How will my pension be impacted by inheritance tax?
Q. I understand pensions will be brought into the realm of inheritance tax (IHT) in the next couple of years but I wondered if there was any information concerning how the value of the pension will be assessed? Other assets have a financial value which is easily understood. They may also be given away and, provided that the rules are adhered to, may avoid IHT. I do not believe the same can be said for pensions. My understanding is that they cannot be given away during your lifetime, which is why the government is looking to include them within the IHT assessment. The real value of a pension may depend on the tax treatment it will be subjected to. When a pension is assessed for IHT purposes, is it the full value of the remaining pension that becomes part of the estate for IHT? Please note I live in Scotland — will this affect the income tax charged to my beneficiaries?Neil As you note, from April 2027 the government has confirmed unspent pensions will count towards your estate for IHT purposes, meaning more people will be affected by the tax. That said, despite IHT being one of the most unpopular taxes in the UK, it is levied on a minority of households — so it might not affect you at all. About 5 per cent of deaths result in any IHT being paid, though the inclusion of pensions may double this proportion. You will need to exhaust your nil-rate band of £325,000 and main-residence nil-rate band of £175,000 (an extra allowance for those leaving their home to a direct descendant on estates worth up to £2 million) before any of your estate is exposed to an IHT charge of 40 per cent. Furthermore, if your estate, including any pensions after April 2027, is being inherited by your spouse or civil partner, there will be no IHT to pay at all. And in general terms, it is best not to let the tax tail wag the pensions or investment dog. To confirm, it will be the full value of your pension, before income tax, that is assessed for inheritance tax. Tax, including IHT, is clearly a consideration when making retirement decisions, but it should not be the only consideration. If you die before age 75 your pension, up to a limit of £1,073,100, can usually be passed without your beneficiaries having to pay income tax when they withdraw it. Above the limit they will pay tax at their normal rate. If you die after age 75, your beneficiaries will pay income tax on all of the funds at their normal rate. These rules will still apply when defined contribution (DC) pensions become subject to IHT from April 2027. For those unfamiliar with the jargon, a DC pension is a retirement pot where how much you build up is based on what you pay in and investment growth. Your contributions benefit from upfront tax relief, the growth is tax-free and your money available to access as you wish — with up to a quarter available to take tax-free — usually from age 55 (rising to age 57 from April 2028). The alternative is a defined benefit (DB) pension, where you are paid an income for life, though these are increasingly rare as they are so expensive to fund. Where it can be passed on (usually to a dependant) this income will remain free of IHT when the rules change. Annuities, an insurance product that pays an income for life, which can sometimes be passed to a named beneficiary, will also remain IHT-free. However, certain lump sum death benefits from defined benefit (DB) schemes will be subject to IHT from April 2027. Broadly, any money left in a DC pension pot on death — whether it's untouched or has been put into 'drawdown' — will count towards your estate for IHT purposes. IHT will only become a factor if passing it on to someone other than a spouse or civil partner and the total value of your estate exceeds your IHT nil-rate bands. In terms of valuing DC pensions, that shouldn't be a problem as they are all cash amounts. On gifting, there is nothing stopping you accessing your DC pension and handing the money to loved ones. Provided that you live for seven years after making the gift, this money should be IHT-free. On income tax, these proposals are UK-wide but it will be the income tax rate that applies to your beneficiaries in the country they live that will apply. Income tax rates in Scotland are different from those in England and Wales, with a lower starter rate of 19 per cent on income between £12,571 to £15,397 a year, but a number of extra income bands and a top rate of 48 per cent on income above £125,140, instead of 45 per cent. Any beneficiaries living there could pay a higher tax bill if they withdrew a large sum in one year than if they lived elsewhere. Tom Selby is the director of public policy at AJ Bell and has successfully campaigned for retirement reforms such as banning pensions cold-calling and increasing pension allowances
Reuters
an hour ago
- Reuters
Asian stocks climb, dollar droops on Fed easing bets
TOKYO, Aug 7 (Reuters) - Asian equities rose on Thursday, with Japanese shares hitting a record high, as tech-led gains on Wall Street, upbeat earnings and growing expectations for U.S. rate cuts boosted sentiment. The prospect of a meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin over the war in Ukraine also underpinned sentiment, benefitting the euro, while weighing on oil prices as traders gauged the outlook for sanctions on Moscow. Sterling held its ground at a one-week high going into the Bank of England's policy announcement later in the day, with a quarter-point cut widely expected, and the focus falling on a possible three-way split within the board. At the same time, markets largely shook off Trump's latest tariff threats, including an additional 25% tariff on India over purchases of Russian oil and a threatened 100% duty on chips. Japan's broad Topix index (.TOPX), opens new tab rose 0.9% to reach an all-time high, with the more tech-focused Nikkei (.N225), opens new tab also gaining by about the same margin. Taiwan's stock benchmark (.TWII), opens new tab surged 2.3% to a more than one-year peak. South Korea's KOSPI (.KS11), opens new tab added 0.6%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng (.HSI), opens new tab rose 0.4%, and mainland Chinese blue chips (.CSI300), opens new tab advanced 0.3%. Australian shares (.AXJO), opens new tab edged slightly lower after hitting a record high on Wednesday. U.S. stock futures were buoyant, with those for the S&P 500 up 0.3% and those for the Nasdaq also rising 0.3%. On Wednesday, the S&P 500 (.SPX), opens new tab climbed 0.7% and the Nasdaq Composite (.IXIC), opens new tab jumped 1.2%. "Wall Street seems to have gotten its mojo back," analyst Kyle Rodda wrote in a note. "However, there are persistent risks to the downside. Downside surprises in official data are increasing," he said. "Valuations are also stretched, with forward price to earnings hovering around the highest in four years. And trade uncertainty persists." The U.S. dollar remained lower against major peers on Thursday, with expectations of easier policy from the Federal Reserve stoked both by some disappointing macroeconomic indicators - not least Friday's payrolls report - and Trump's move to install new picks on the Fed board that are likely to share the U.S. President's dovish views on monetary policy. Focus is centring on Trump's nomination to fill a coming vacancy on the Fed's Board of Governors and candidates for the next chair of the central bank, with current Chair Jerome Powell's tenure due to end in May. The dollar index , which gauges the currency against the euro, sterling and four other counterparts, gained slightly to 98.245, after dropping 0.6% on Wednesday. The euro was little changed at $1.1657, following the previous session's 0.7% jump. Sterling was steady at $1.3356. The BoE looks poised to cut interest rates for the fifth time in 12 months later on Thursday, but nagging worries about inflation are likely to split its policymakers and cloud the outlook for its next moves. Two Monetary Policy Committee members may push for a half-point rate cut, and two may lobby for no change. The dollar added 0.1% to 147.53 yen . Gold gained 0.4% to around $3,382 per ounce, buoyed by the weaker dollar. Crude oil clawed back some losses from Wednesday, when both Brent and West Texas Intermediate slid about 1%. Brent crude futures were last up 20 cents, or 0.3%, at $67.09 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude gained 22 cents, or 0.3%, to $64.57 a barrel.
