Uefa has projected that it will earn €1 billion ($1.37 billion) over a four-year cycle, taking in the qualifiers for one World Cup and one European Championship. This compares with about €680 million that the federations earn at present. The scheme will come into force in 2014 for the qualifiers for Euro 2016.
The governing body has guaranteed that no federation will earn less than it does under the present system, in which the rights are handled by the individual federations. Nearly all federations sell their rights to agencies like Sportfive, Kentaro, Infront and IMG Media.
Italy’s Gazzetta dello Sport reported today that the big federations, such as England, Germany, France, Italy and Spain will be guaranteed a minimum of €35 million over the four years and the smallest federations €5 million.
The biggest obstacle to the project, which was pushed by the smaller federations, has been the concerns of the big federations, in particular, England’s Football Association, that they would lose out financially by joining the scheme. Uefa is expected to announce that all of its 53 member federations have signed up to the scheme. However, it is thought that federations will be able to opt out of some parts of it.