Chasing Europe’s football jackpot

The end of the football season brings high drama, particularly over qualification for the Uefa Champions League — a tournament where the stakes are as financial as they are sporting. Securing a place can transform a club’s future, bringing a windfall in revenue and prestige that often cements long-term dominance. For those on the margins, qualification can mean the difference between growth and stagnation.

Also on Saturday, there’s a seismic match in the Uefa Women’s Champions League. Arsenal take on defending champions Barcelona in the final of the competition. The London club has been widely lauded for backing its women’s team, pulling in fans and regularly competing at the top end of the Women’s Super League, the highest level of the game in England.

But Barcelona are the game’s dominant force. They’ve won Spain’s Liga F six years in a row and three of the last four Women’s Champions League finals. In fact, Arsenal would be the first team outside of Barcelona and OL Lyonnes (formerly Lyon) to win the Women’s Champions League since Germany’s Eintracht Frankfurt in 2015. The London team last won the competition in 2007, when it was still known as the Uefa Women’s Cup.

The buzz around women’s football is growing. Investors are buying into teams. In another boost, Disney’s streaming platform will broadcast the Women’s Champions League from next season in a five-year deal running to 2030 — a major win for Uefa and its club partners. Disney+ will replace UK media group DAZN.

More on the Uefa Champions League’s financial stakes below, plus we also have a Q&A with Toto Wolff, the Mercedes Formula 1 chief and shareholder on the future of the sport.

Do read on — Samuel Agini, sports business correspondent

The great race for the Uefa Champions League

Qualifying for next season’s Uefa Champions League has never been more lucrative for European football clubs and their wealthy owners.

That’s why Tottenham Hotspur’s victory over Manchester United in the Europa League final in Bilbao on Wednesday was so significant. It provided an alternative route into the Champions League for a club languishing in the lower half of the Premier League.

Spurs claimed their first trophy in 17 years, but the greater reward was a guaranteed place in next season’s Champions League.

Under the newly adopted Swiss format — which incorporated a league phase ahead of the knockout rounds — Europe’s premier competition has become a cash cow for participants. Uefa will distribute more than €2.4bn to the clubs in this season’s tournament, up from €2.0bn in the previous campaign.

While United is considered the struggling crown jewel of Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s sports empire, OGC Nice, another club in the billionaire’s portfolio, still have a chance to play in next season’s Champions League after finishing fourth in Ligue 1.

While Ineos has taken a decisive interest in day-to-day decisions at United, Ratcliffe’s petrochemicals company placed Nice into a blind trust to appease Uefa over a potential conflict of interest because both teams were in the Europa League this season.

Marseille and Monaco have already guaranteed qualification alongside perennial French champions Paris Saint-Germain, who have the chance to win the tournament for the first time later this month. These three clubs will have a significant financial advantage against domestic rivals because of the collapse in French domestic media rights revenues.

United aren’t the only big club to miss out. AC Milan, seven-time winners of the Champions League, can’t make it. Italian rivals Napoli, Oaktree’s Internazionale and Stephen Pagliuca’s Atalanta have already qualified. Juventus hope to cling on to the fourth and final spot. AS Roma and Lazio are still capable of overtaking Juventus, long owned by the Agnelli family.

In England, the final round of fixtures will decide who joins champions Liverpool and runners-up Arsenal in the Champions League next season.

The stakes are high for Newcastle United, owned by the Saudi sovereign wealth fund, and Chelsea, owned by US investors Clearlake Capital and Todd Boehly, the two teams currently ranked fourth and fifth in the table.

Nottingham Forest, which is owned by ⁠Greek shipping magnate Evangelos Marinakis, aren’t out of the running. Nor are Aston Villa, the team owned by Egyptian billionaire Nassef Sawiris and Fortress Investment co-founder Wes Edens.

In Spain, the matter is settled. La Liga champions Barcelona and runners-up Real Madrid are there, of course. Atlético Madrid, backed by investment firm Ares; member-owned Athletic Club; and Villarreal have also earned their spots.

The same goes for Germany, where Bayern Munich, Bayer 04 Leverkusen, and Eintracht Frankfurt and Borussia Dortmund have already qualified.

As clubs owned by billionaires, private equity firms, and sovereign wealth funds fight for their place in European football’s prime tournament, you can be sure that investors from Wall Street to Riyadh will be keeping score.

Wolff’s formula: Mercedes boss eyes 2026 reset

Toto Wolff led Mercedes to eight consecutive constructors’ titles from 2014-21, the most dominant stretch in the history of Formula 1. But Mercedes F1 has ceded bragging rights to rival teams Red Bull and McLaren. Wolff, who owns a third of the Mercedes outfit, is gearing up for an overhaul in 2026, when new cars, engines and regulations promise to upend the grid once again.

In Sports Exchange, a new FT series featuring conversations with power brokers in the world of sport, Wolff sets out his vision.

Josh Noble: How big will the 2026 rule changes be?

Toto Wolff: The 2026 rule change is the biggest ever. Power units become true 50-50 hybrids — 50 per cent combustion with 100 per cent sustainable fuel, and 50 per cent electric. This mirrors what’s happening in road cars. It’s groundbreaking.

Add to that new chassis regulations to make the cars less draggy and more aerodynamic in order to cope with the reduction of available energy. Together, that’s the most radical regulatory change ever.

JN: So, in terms of the competitive balance, is this a major reset?

TW: Every major rule change has the potential to rebalance the field. When we won eight championships in a row, the rules changed three times to shake it up. We managed to stay on top — until 2022, when ground effect cars returned. We weren’t competitive and haven’t caught up since.

Yes, we are one of the top teams. We win races. We have a good image and attractive content and narrative. But we haven’t won a championship. We’ve been second, third, fourth — second at the moment, respectable but not winning those championships. 2026 will bring equal opportunity and risk.

You can read the full exchange with Wolff here.

Highlights

• South African President Cyril Ramaphosa called on star golfer Ernie Els to join him in meeting Donald Trump at the White House this week. Els, a four-time major winner, and the rest of Ramaphosa’s delegation “acquitted themselves as well as could be expected”, wrote the FT’s Editorial Board.

• The Enhanced Games, a “steroid Olympics” backed by Donald Trump Jr and billionaire Peter Thiel, intends to launch at a Las Vegas casino in May 2026. Swimming, track and field, and weightlifting will feature at the inaugural event.

• The New York Liberty, the pro basketball team, was valued at $450mn in a capital raise, a new record for a professional women’s sports franchise, The Athletic reported.

• Need tips for Roland-Garros? Read Simon Kuper’s ultimate guide to the French Open here.

Transfer Market

• Michael Payne, former marketing chief at the International Olympic Committee, is the new chair of Volleyball World, a joint venture between private equity firm CVC Capital Partners and governing body FIVB. Payne, who advised when CVC invested in Volleyball World, wants to build on the venture’s global growth. Your volleyball recap is here.

• The Ladies Professional Golf Association elected Craig Kessler to be its 10th commissioner. Kessler, a former chief operating officer of Topgolf, began his career at McKinsey & Company, left the consultancy and later worked for private equity firms Kohlberg Kravis Roberts and Providence Equity Partners.

Final Whistle

Serbian tennis ace Novak Djokovic is famously exacting about his diet. Recall that he celebrated his Australian Open win in 2012 with a single square of chocolate.

This week, he was presented with a whole cake for his birthday. He had a small nibble and dodged the fiery candles.

“I just hope it’s gluten free,” says the commentator.