West Ham United: Kieran Maguire shares £19million update at the London Stadium
Kieran Maguire has shared that West Ham will only have made a “few” million pounds from their Europa Conference League victory despite the £19million prize money.
The football finance expert shared that, after a conversation with one club executive, clubs have to go very deep into the tournament before they break even, let alone make a profit.
It was shared that the prize money for the Europa Conference League win is equivalent to six Premier League places, but extra expenses bring that profit down.
Speaking on The Price Of Football podcast [4 March], Maguire shared: “If we go to the UEFA annual financial report, what we find is the West Ham prize money for winning it was £19million.
“If you then take a look at the Premier League, each position is worth £3.1million. So, it’s six places. It’s the difference between ninth and fifteenth and so on. But that’s looking at it on a gross basis.
“What you also have to do is take a broader economic analysis of the Europa Conference. What you have there is that you’re going to need a bigger and more expensive squad to cope with the additional demand of playing Sunday-Thursday, so that gets knocked off.
“You will have some extra gate receipts. In the case of West Ham selling out a 60,000-seater stadium, they were significant. At the same time, the players will get appearance fees and win bonuses.
“I was speaking to an executive of one club who said for the Europa League, they probably won’t break even unless they get to the quarter-finals or semi-finals, so you’ve got to make an awful lot of progress before you see any net benefit.
“The West Ham fans who saw their club win that trophy last season, they’ve got lifetime memories. The club probably made a few million, but it’s not going to be more than that.”
West Ham hope for further windfall in Europa League
With the money from the Europa Conference League victory ultimately seeming inconsequential in the grand scheme of things for the club, they will be hoping for the extra prize money that comes with Europa League progression.
With Maguire sharing the executive’s view that getting to the quarter-final or semi-final is required to break even, David Moyes and the club will be hoping to push at least to that stage of the competition, if not beyond.
Moyes has come under pressure for some lacklustre results and a disappointing style of play this season, but as far as the club is concerned, as long as he is getting results both in Europe and the Premier League, the money comes alongside that.
With their place in the Europa League still on the line, as well as back-to-back domestic wins boosting their league position, the potential remains for additional income through the doors in East London.
In other West Ham news, Frank McAvennie sent a message to Moyes ahead of the Everton clash.
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