How much could Celtic actually make from 2024/25 Champions League prize money?

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Celtic were utterly imperious on matchday one of the Champions League as they swept aside Slovan Bratislava with consummate ease.

It was such a convincing display under the lights at Parkhead as goals from Liam Scales, Kyogo Furuhashi, Arne Engels, Daizen Maeda and Adam Idah sealed an enthralling 5-1 triumph.

The Hoops had already banked a huge sum of cash just for competing in this year’s revamped league phase but with a victory on Wednesday night, they added more to their overall earnings.

So how much could Brendan Rodgers and his squad earn for the club in the Champions League this season?

Amid the aftermath of last night’s European masterclass, 67 Hail Hail crunched the numbers to provide you with everything there is to know about the prize money on offer for Celtic.

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Champions League 2024/25 prize money breakdown

There are three main revenue streams Celtic can earn prize money from. Celtic are guaranteed a league phase participation fee and a share of the two-tiered value pillar.

The Hoops can also earn prize money from how well they perform with rewards for wins, draws and how far into the Champions League they go.

Celtic’s equal share participation fee

Celtic have already secured a cool £15.66m just for participating in the league phase of the Champions League. It is split into a down payment of £15.03m and a balance of roughly £630k.

Celtic’s performance-related bonuses

The Bhoys can add to their participation fee with performance-related bonuses. Per win in the league phase is worth £1.76m and per draw is approximately £589k. No prize money is on offer for defeats.

Celtic would then be guaranteed certain sums depending on how deep into the competition they go. The prize money per league phase position and round is as follows:

Celtic’s share of two-tiered value pillar

The value pillar pot is the most confusing to get your head around but we’ll explain it as best we can below.

The pot is divided into two sections, the European part and a non-European part. How much Celtic can earn from the European part depends on two elements:

• Scotland’s contribution to UEFA’s media & broadcasting revenue
• Celtic’s five-year UEFA coefficient ranking

And Celtic’s share of the non-European part is determined by:

• Celtic’s 10-year UEFA coefficient ranking

It’s impossible to calculate exactly what Celtic will earn from the two sections of the value pillar pot come the end of their campaign.

But thanks to Fotcalc.com and Scotland’s Coefficient on X, we can combine their current data to offer a glimpse into what Celtic are projected to make.

Note that the following data was calculated after matchday one of the Champions League with Celtic securing a 5-1 win versus Slovan Bratislava.

So for the European part of the value pillar, Celtic are said to be ranked 23rd out of the 36 league phase teams in the media & broadcasting market value leaderboard.

That’s because Scotland are below countries such as England, France, Germany, Spain and Italy whose clubs will all rank higher in that regard.

And regarding Celtic’s five-year coefficient ranking, the club are said to be sitting 28th out of the 36 league phase teams this season.

Combining those two ranks, Celtic are currently projected to make £7.86m from the European part of the value pillar.

Celtic’s non-European ranking is easier to work out as it is determined simply by the club’s 10-year coefficient score.

The club are said to be 25th out of the 36 league phase teams in this regard, meaning they are projected to bank around £3.49m from the non-European part of the value pillar.

Of course, these figures could fluctuate slightly as the campaign goes on but it’s likely Celtic will earn around £11m from the two-tiered value pillar in total.

How much could Celtic bank in total from Champions League?

Taking into account the figures and calculations above, Celtic could bank just over £27m thanks to the participation fee and their share of the two-part value pillar.

That’s before we add the performance-related bonuses (wins, draws, league phase position, knockout round reached), gate receipts, TV money and undistributed amounts due to draws.

Celtic have already secured £1.76m for the Slovan Bratislava win. So let’s say the Hoops go on to beat Club Brugge and Young Boys at home while taking a point away at Dinamo Zagreb.

And let’s also assume the club lose to Dortmund, RB Leipzig, Atalanta and Aston Villa, arguably Celtic’s four most difficult opponents in the league phase. That would mean a total of £5.87m prize money from those results.

That would be enough to see Celtic reach at least the knockout play-off stage, which banks an extra £841k as outlined above. It would be £1.74m if the club finished between 9th and 16th in the table.

If Celtic are eliminated from the Champions League at the knockout play-off stage, the club could earn around £33.8m before gate receipts, a share of the UK TV money pool and undistributed amounts due to draws.

If Celtic are eliminated at the round of 16 stage, the club could bank roughly £42.2m before gate receipts, a share of the UK TV money pool and undistributed amounts due to draws.