Celtic could be set for massive £80 million European cash windfall

While the side were knocked out even before making the main stage of this year’s tournament and the Europa League as well, it’s no secret that Celtic still have all the chances in the world to continue competing in Europe in the upcoming seasons if they can get things together once again.

Fortunately for them, it also appears that UEFA’s Champions League is set to rework its format from 2024 on, potentially netting large cash windfalls for clubs like Celtic, per the Daily Record.

This news comes from the Dutch Eredivisie’s director, Jan de Jong, who claims that the new format for European play could net Celtic and similar clubs up to £80 million in cash, which he believes would further the divide between the clubs in many domestic leagues across Europe.

With many of the European giants over recent years expressing disdain with UEFA over their league formats, rumours swirled for a period of these teams breaking away to form a “Super League” of football giants. This rumoured league has been shot down by UEFA now, but lead to the new format changes for upcoming seasons.

It is now even more important for Celtic to make the Champions League

As reported by the Daily Record, De Jong said:

"“From 2024, when the new format of the Champions League starts, our representatives from nations of our size will earn between €70m and €90m.“That would mean, to leagues like the Eredivisie and others, if the same club qualifies three times in a row for example, football in this country would be ripped apart. The difference between the haves and the have nots would be too big.“It will have a huge impact. There will be 225 games instead of 125 in the Champions League and proposed weekend games would pose a threat. That will have an enormous impact on domestic leagues and reduces their importance.”"

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If De Jong right, the Champion’s League will go from 125 matches to 225, with weekend matches then potentially conflicting with many clubs’ domestic league ties, but earning the teams massive cash boosts for the extra competition.

While UEFA have yet to officially confirm the changes to the Champions League format, having a European League’s chief comment on these changes certainly makes it sound like a real possibility, with an official announcement expected within a month.

De Jong expressed concerns over these cash windfalls however, saying that for clubs in some European leagues that continually qualify for Europe (like Ajax in the Eredivisie, for example) the huge cash boosts will further the divide between the competition in many leagues as the non-European competition clubs won’t be able to keep up.