UEC calls for 35% of UEFA’s club comp media money to go to domestic leagues

By Samindra Kunti in Brussels

November 19 – The Union of European Clubs (UEC) has proposed a ‘domestic media rights protection’ to counter the growing disparity in rights revenues between domestic leagues and European club competitions.

On Tuesday, the body representing the interests of small and medium-sized clubs in Europe, rolled out the policy proposal, aimed at rebalancing the distribution of television revenues, at its forum in Brussels, Belgium. 

The UEC explained: “Each season, if Uefa Club Competition media rights revenues exceed the value of domestic league media rights within a member association, 35% of the surplus would be set aside as a ‘Domestic Media Rights Protection’. Funds would be redistributed to the domestic league of the relevant member association to help preserve the competitive balance between international and domestic competitions.”

Alex Muzio, the chair of the UEC, highlighted a few examples, including Sweden where the media rights for European club competitions total €125 million, dwarfing the €33 million in domestic rights.

Under the ‘Domestic Media Rights Protection’ policy, there’d be a redistribution to the league of €32.2 million.

In Ukraine, media rights for Uefa club competitions amount to €12 million, vastly surpassing the €500,000 in domestic rights revenue. Under the ‘Domestic Media Rights Protection’ policy, there would be a redistribution to the league of €4.5 million to the league.

Muzio expressed “maximum concern” over the growing gap between domestic and continental media rights. It’s a “big reason why we’re proposing this now is because right now, when you look at the numbers 35%, most people will say that seems reasonable. In ten years, if nothing happens now, that 35% will look crazy because it will be so much money.”

“Uefa rights are going up and the domestic rights are going down, and already there are significant competitive balance problems between the clubs that qualify for European competitions and the clubs that do not. This will only get broader.”

Earlier this year, the UEC also proposed the ‘Player Development Reward’, a policy to benefit clubs that invest in youth and community development. Dennis Gudasic, UEC general secretary, added: “That’s where we see the UEC growing in terms of developing clearly identifiable policies that the clubs can identify from. The UEC only means something if we’re going to present concrete proposals.”

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