Will Sir Alex get his hands on this year’s £98m pot?
Teams reaching the knockout stages will take home between £34.39m and £41.27m, new figures show.
Details of the huge windfalls came as the draw was being made for the final 16 of the 2008/9 competition.
Manchester United, Arsenal, Liverpool and Chelsea are in the running for the Rome final in May.
The study on behalf of MasterCard was conducted by one of the world’s leading sport business experts, Professor Simon Chadwick.
Liverpool’s Jermaine Pennant
He said: “In uncertain economic times, sport’s universal appeal remains strong, making it one of the most lucrative industries to be involved in.
“The competition continues to be an important source of revenue and commercial activity for clubs, especially for those that qualify for the knockout phase of the competition.”
The winnings are broken down into a UEFA participation payment, prize money, a share of UEFA commercial revenues, ticket sales, sponsorship and sales of merchandise and increased squad value.
UEFA awards £2.68million to each team that qualifies for the tournament plus £2.15million for participating in the Group stage.
A Group stage win is worth over £530,000 per game, or £268,000 for a draw.
Reaching the first knockout phase nets an instant £1.9million prize payment.
A side qualifying for the knockout phase will have secured on average £8.4million in UEFA prize money alone.
UEFA will make additional payments to Group stage teams which the MasterCard report suggests could amount to approximately £8.4million per club.
In uncertain economic times, sport’s universal appeal remains strong, making it one of the most lucrative industries to be involved in.
Professor Simon Chadwick
The study also suggests ticket revenues have generated an average of £7.64million in income from the Group stage.
Commercial and marketing revenues account for a further £5.36million on average. Meanwhile, squad values increase by an average of £4.47million on the back of qualification for the knockout phase.
UEFA prize money adds £2.2 million for each quarter-finalist, £2.68 million for each semi-finalist, £3.57 million for the runners-up and £6.26 million for the winners.
According to the study, the side that lifts the UEFA Champions League trophy could earn up to a total of £19.5million in prize money, £8.4million market pool payment, £17.84million in ticket revenues, £12.5million in commercial and marketing revenues, £13.4 million in increased squad value, and up to £26.8million in other premiums including bonus payments linked to sponsorship.
