Analyzing the numbers
Rangers’ exit from the Champions League means the club will lose at least £12 million in the short term.
From them 3-1 aggregate defeat to Dynamo Kyiv in the third qualifying round means that the Ukrainian team advances to face Salzburg in the play-offs, the last stage before the lucrative and inaugural stage of the championship.
Rangers will have budgeted for Champions League and non-Champions League scenarios in the autumn, but manager Philippe Clement said “financially it is a big difference for the club” and “would also make a difference” to recruitment.
So how much worse off will the Ibrox club be in the Europa League? In short, Rangers aim to bring in between a fifth and a quarter of what they would have in the Champions League, but could increase depending on performance.
UEFA governing body it says £2.12 billion will be distributed to participating Champions League clubs in 2024-25, while Europa League clubs will receive a share of £485 million – around 22% of the Champions League money.
Rangers reached the last 16 of the Europa League last season, while Celtic played in the final group stage of the Champions League.
Both clubs will not reveal their sources of income in their accounts for 2023-24 until later this year, but Rangers were a Champions League group stage club in autumn 2022 and have detailed £18.5m in income from the UEFA in that year’s accounts.
The previous year, in connection with Rangers’ run to the Europa League final, the club received £17.3 million in prize money from Uefa.
How much of this season’s £485m will be distributed to Rangers depends on how far they go in the competition and how many points they pick up in the new league phase.
They have £3.7m guaranteed, compared to the almost £16m Celtic are guaranteed in the new stage of the Champions League.
A win in any of the eight league stage games Rangers will play would be worth around £386,000 and a draw £129,000. The Ibrox club will also receive a performance-related sum depending on where they finish at the end of the league stage.
Qualifying for the knockout stages of the Europa League is worth £257,000 per club, with £1.5 million as a prize to progress to the last 16. The prize money increases to £2.15 million for the quarter-finals, £2.6 million for the semi-finals, £7 million for reaching the final and an additional £6 million goes to the winner.
Therefore, like Rangers in the 2021-22 season, a place in the Europa League final would be needed to come close to matching the income from participation in the Champions League qualifiers.
And the coefficient?
One of the most discussed issues surrounding European football for Scottish football fans is the coefficient: the measure that influences the classification and placement of clubs and federations.
Rangers, largely due to their Europa League performance in recent years, actually have a coefficient 41 places above three-time champions Celtic. The Ibrox side is at number 28.
Scotland’s coefficient – 17th down from 11th this year – has benefited from this in recent years, but has also been affected by the European performances of other Scottish clubs.
For example, last season Rangers played 12 European games, winning four and drawing five. Aberdeen, Celtic, Heart of Midlothian and Hibernian have collectively generated five wins and six draws from 24 games.
With Scotland below the top 15, their champions next season are expected to face knockout ties to reach the league stage of the Champions League, while the Scottish Cup winners and Premiership frontrunners will face a tougher path to the league or group games.
Celtic have secured direct entry into the group stage of the Champions League for the last two seasons and the league stage this season. Aberdeen and Hearts have been in the Conference League group stage for the past two seasons.
This season’s results involving Scottish clubs will affect the following season’s coefficients. Like the Glasgow clubs, Hearts are guaranteed European football until the autumn – in Europe or the Conference League – while Kilmarnock and St Mirren are trying to reach the Conference League group stage.
Celtic ‘generating more money’ – analysis
Football finance expert Kieran Maguire
This will effectively put a 20-30 million pound hole on top of an existing gap between [Celtic and Rangers] in terms of your finances*.
It is essential that Rangers participate regularly in the Champions League to return to an equal footing with Celtic.
Celtic have the benefits of slightly higher commercial revenues because they are exposed to Champions League games, they have a bigger stadium so they are generating more money on match days.
And the SPFL TV deal is not significant in terms of its global impact, so it becomes much more dependent on UEFA money.
If Rangers are to truly challenge Celtic in terms of their ability to match wages and match the club in the transfer market, then they need to have an equal or better position when it comes to their participation in Europe.
*Celtic recorded revenue of £119.9m and Rangers took in £83.3m in the year to June 2023
