Champions League and Europa League Prize Money Vastly Increased by UEFA

Total prize money for those teams competing in the Champions League and the Europa League is set to vastly increase to £1.6 billion next season.

The decision comes after UEFA and the European Club Association reached a new agreement to cover the period from 2015-2018.

The overall increase of around 32 per cent from the current figures will see Europa League prize money edge closer to that of the Champions League, with Europe's second-tier competition seeing an increase of 65 per cent across the board, per Sky Sports.

Football writer Tariq Panja outlines the positives for Europa League participants:

The impact for Champions League clubs is that the winners will see an increase from £7.6 million to £10.9 million, per the Sky Sports report.

The incentive to qualify for the Champions League will now be even greater for Europe's top clubs, with increased prize money across all competing teams, as Sporting Intelligence outlines:

Those clubs that fail to qualify for the group stages are also set to be better compensated.

UEFA General Secretary Gianni Infantino noted in the wake of the announcement that the new system provides a fairer deal for all clubs, per the Sky Sports report:

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UEFA is really pleased that the new distribution system not only provides for a substantial rise in monies received by clubs participating in the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League, but also strengthens UEFA's solidarity principle, namely ensuring an even more substantial increase in solidarity payments to clubs. In this way, the new system provides a better deal for everyone, especially those clubs which did not qualify to the group stage of either of the two UEFA club competitions. This is a perfect example of the proper implementation of the solidarity principle which forms an essential part of UEFA's key values.

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Television money has played a key role in the latest increases.

BT Sport's new deal—beginning next season—is an indicator of how valuable the Champions League is, as its £897 million three-year agreement is worth double what Sky previously paid for it, per Nick Harris of MailOnline.

European qualification is an unbelievably valuable asset in modern-day football, as those clubs that regularly appear in the Champions League and Europa League are able to attract and afford a much higher calibre of player.

This is not a trend set to change anytime soon, as UEFA's latest prize-money hike attests to.