The final of the inaugural UEFA Europa Conference League will be played between AS Roma and Feyenoord on Thursday, May 26.

The UEFA Europa Conference League, the third-tier club competition in European football below the UEFA Champions League and the UEFA Europa League, operates on similar lines as its sibling competitions.

The winner of the UEFA Europa Conference League will secure automatic qualification to the Europa League's group stage for the next season.

UEFA Europa Conference League prize money

The UEFA Europa Conference League operates on a prize money model that is used in the Champions League and Europa League.

An approximate €235 million is distributed among participating teams. The amount is further divided into:

- 40% will be allocated to starting fees (€94 million)

- 40% will be allocated to performance-related fixed amounts (€94 million)

- 10% will be allocated to coefficient-based amounts (€23.5 million)

- 10% will be allocated to variable amounts (market pool) (€23.5 million)

UEFA Europa Conference League prize money for qualifiers

If a team qualifies for the group stage of the UEFA Europa Conference League, they are entitled to receive a base amount of €2.94 million. Moreover, teams who participate in the qualifying rounds and fail to earn a ticket to the group stage also return with a fixed amount. The breakdown is as follows:

First qualifying round elimination: €150,000

Second qualifying round elimination: €350,000

Third qualifying round elimination: €550,000

Play-off round elimination: €750,000

Not qualified for group stage: €260,000

UEFA Europa Conference League prize money for group stage

A team winning a group stage fixture in the UEFA Europa Conference League is rewarded with €500,000, while a draw means contesting teams earn €166,000 each. At the end of the group stage schedule, each group winner pockets €650,000, in addition to the money earned from wins and draws, whereas the runner-ups are given €325,000.

Per match win in group stage: €500,000

Per match drawn in group stage: €166,000

Group stage winners: €650,000

Group stage runners-up: €325,000

UEFA Europa Conference League prize money for knockout phase

Teams progressing into the knockout phase of the UEFA Europa Conference League receive a significantly larger amount than in the group stage. Teams that qualify for the quarter-finals and the semi-finals pocket a base fee of €1 million and €2 million respectively.

Here’s the break up.

Qualification for round of 32: €300,000

Qualification for round of 16: €600,000

Qualification for quarter-final: €1 million

Qualification for semi-final: €2 million

What is the UEFA Europa Conference League prize money for the winner and runners-up?

The winner of the UEFA Europa Conference League receives a cash prize of €5 million, while the runner-up will return home with €3 million.

Winner: €5 million

Runner up: €3 million

If a team has won all six games in the group stage and goes on to win the UEFA Europa Conference League, they stand to win a total amount of approximately €20 million.

The runner-up can receive a grand total of €17 million if they win all their matches barring the final. The figure also includes the TV market pool share, which is distributed among the teams in addition to the base fees.

TV market pool share for UEFA Europa Conference League

The total TV market pool share for the UEFA Europa Conference League is set at €23.5 million. Below is the breakdown of the fees div at every stage.

Group Stage: €4.70 million

Knockout Round Playoffs: €1.76 million

Round of 16: €2.36 million

Quarter-finals: €1.53 million

Semi-finals: €940,000

UEFA Europa Conference League final: €470,500

Overall TV Pool adjusted : €11.75 million

The remaining share (€11.75m) will be split among the clubs representing national associations in the group stage on the basis of their performance in the previous season’s domestic competitions.

Author: William Paul

Featured photo: AFP / FABRICE COFFRINI