Europe’s top clubs prepare a power grab… to take control of commercial rights in Champions League

Europe’s biggest clubs are expected to make a grab for greater control of the Champions League, when they hold crucial talks tomorrow.

The European Club Association, which includes more than 200 leading clubs, has been in negotiations with UEFA over how the lucrative competition is organised and managed and it now looks to be well placed to seize more power.

The ECA, which critics say is dominated by the 20 richest clubs, has established a strong negotiating position to extract concessions from UEFA on the sale of media and sponsorship rights for European club competitions.

The top clubs want an agreement in writing now that would allow them to generate more money from European club competitions, sources say.

In return for greater control of commercial rights, the clubs would finally agree to UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin’s plans to expand the Champions League from 2024, Sportsmail understands.

And they will try to finalise their position at an ECA board meeting tomorrow. 

Ceferin wants to put his Champions League proposals to the organisation’s executive committee and Congress, next week, knowing it has ECA support.

‘The clubs want greater input into negotiations over broadcast and sponsorship,’ said a source with knowledge of the talks. ‘They think they can generate more revenue than UEFA achieves. It’s all about financial ambition.’

The ECA may well have Ceferin exactly where they want him, with just a few days to go before the two critical meetings.

The President of UEFA is desperate to finalise plans to expand the Champions League because of concerns over the creation of a breakaway European Super League.

He hopes the supersized UEFA competition, which will increase by four teams and 100 matches, as well as allow some preferential access to the continent’s biggest clubs, will prevent the big sides peeling off and setting up a rival league.

The Champions League is the bedrock of UEFA’s income and Ceferin may well have concluded that it is better to concede control of how the money is made and distributed, rather than risk losing the competition altogether.

The UEFA president has already fallen victim to one ECA powerplay when he believed he had their agreement on Champions League reform last month, only for the clubs to back out at the last minute and leave him high and dry.

At the end of March, UEFA abandoned plans to vote on the Champions League reform at its executive committee meeting because it was not confident it’s proposals would be endorsed without the ECA’s backing.

Sportsmail understands the ECA and UEFA have held intensive talks this week in order to reach agreement.

‘Ceferin is about to give in,’ said the source. ‘UEFA want the extra games and the format.’

At issue is not just the expansion of the Champions League, but the creation of a new joint venture company that would control the media and sponsorship rights of European club competitions.

Currently, a company called UCC SA, which was established in 2017, allows the ECA to advise UEFA on how to sell commercial rights, but the governing body has the final say.

According to the Financial Times, the new company would be 51 per cent owned by UEFA with the rest controlled by the ECA, however, the clubs want an agreement now on how contracts are sold, which would give them greater control.

This could mean establishing provision for internet streaming rights for clubs or permission to allow them to screen replays on the final whistle.

Crucially, the clubs also want to agree the circumstances in which private equity could be obtained.

Sources say such investment could be used to create revenue-generating opportunities, like establishing an in-house broadcaster, but it could also be a way of making finance available to the participating clubs themselves.

Critics fear that these changes will simply give the richest clubs the opportunity to increase their wealth, driving an even bigger gap between football’s haves and have-nots, undermining competition at a European and domestic level.

If the clubs fail to agree changes to the Champions League format at their meeting tomorrow, negotiations could drag on for weeks to come.

Previously, some clubs have spoken out against the proposals to enlarge the competition.

They have aligned with the European Leagues position, which represents the Premier League, and argued that the size of the expansion would undermine domestic football by placing huge pressure on fixture schedules.

Crystal Palace chairman Steve Parish said last month the moves would eventually usher in a European Super League by the back door.

‘This will have a quite devastating effect on domestic competition in England,’ he said.