There is also a lot at stake financially for Freiburg in the final stretch of the Europa League. They would receive a whopping seven million euros from UEFA just for reaching the final.
Freiburg’s cult coach Christian Streich once said about the sports club: “We don’t have to make ourselves even sexier than we are, but we’re not completely unsexy.” What was continued in terms of sport by his successor Julian Schuster after his time could reach another high point this season. A triumph in the Europa League would mean the South Baden team’s first international title.
Does money make you attractive?
Such a title would not only make the club more attractive in terms of sport. Progress against SC Braga and the associated entry into the Europa League final on May 20th in Istanbul would result in at least seven million euros in additional income. Freiburg’s CFO Oliver Leki would also be happy about this. However, he recently criticized UEFA’s distribution of funds in principle.
Even before the quarter-final against Celta Vigo, he called for a debate about the redistribution of Champions League funds to the participants in the Europa and Conference League. Such a redistribution would be “an effective approach” to make the competitions more exciting, he told “Sport Bild”. The difference between the prize money in the Europa League and the Champions League currently amounts to around 1.9 billion euros.
So far around 26 million euros in income in the Europa League
Basically, the system with which UEFA distributes its funds is based on three pillars: the entry fees, the performance-related funds and the “value bonus”.
The newly created “value bonus” has been a variable pot of money since the 2024 reform, which also introduced the league phase. This depends on the media market and the club coefficient in a European comparison. To put it simply, you can say: the more German viewers on TV and the better Freiburg’s performance in the past, the higher the income. The amount paid to the sports club from this pot cannot be precisely quantified, but varies loudly Kicker However, in the range of eight million euros.
The entry fee and the performance-related bonuses, however, provide clearer figures: In the current Europa League season, the Freiburg team have earned around 18.2 million euros so far. In total, the sports club has earned around 26 million euros in the Europa League to date (see table).
The lucrative financial business could continue
Now not only can the seven million euros for reaching the final be added to this sum, winning the tournament would bring in another ten million euros. This means that, in the best case scenario, the people of South Baden could earn a good 43 million euros. But the lucrative financial business could still continue.
If Freiburg actually wins the Europa League, they will play in the Champions League next season. A starting place in the premier class would then bring another 18.6 million euros.
Should winning the Europa League and the resulting CL participation not work out, Freiburg will have another chance to play internationally next season. The current eighth-placed team can still qualify for the Europa League or the Conference League via the Bundesliga. This depends on the performance in the Bundesliga and the UEFA rankings.
