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Kieran Maguire shares Newcastle United verdict as news emerges on £10m+ blow
It is ‘critical’ for Newcastle United to progress in the Champions League if they want to close the gap to the Premier League’s big six.
That is the view of finance expert Kieran Maguire, who spoke exclusively to Football Insider about the lucrative prize money available in the Champions League.
Newcastle sit third in Group F with one match to go in the group stage against AC Milan next Wednesday (13 December).
Eddie Howe’s side need a positive result against the Italian side while their qualification hopes also rely on Borussia Dortmund not losing to Paris Saint-Germain.
The Magpies have already earned a significant prize pool from their European campaign, with Uefa’s distribution model showing that entering the group stage was worth £13.5million while their results so far pocketed them an extra £4million.
However, Football Insider revealed that Newcastle risk missing out on an extra £10million+ if they narrowly miss out on the tournament’s knockout stage.
Maguire explained that Newcastle’s growth is dependent on the club making progress in Europe in order to earn bigger shares of broadcast money.
“If Newcastle want to be competitive with the big six and want to turn it into a big seven, then making progress in the Champions League is desirable and almost essential,” Maguire told Football Insider’s Sean Fisher.
“The boost in revenue from hosting games and the impact on the club’s Uefa coefficient which rewards more money is very positive.
“Going forwards, under Uefa’s new financial cost and control regime which is very much determined by revenue, this will be important.
“Newcastle will accelerate their commercial income under new owners, but making sure they get a big share of the broadcast money is critical.
“The Champions League prize money is around four times bigger than the Europa League.
“But if Newcastle finish third and drop into the Europa League, they could use that as a vehicle to return to the Champions League next year while also increasing the number of tickets sold at St James’ Park.“
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