No revenues in CONCACAF Champions League

[canucklefan]

Recently I've read about revenues in UEFA Champions League.

http://www.uefa.com/uefa/management/finance/news/newsid=1979893.html

Each of the 32 teams involved in the group stage will collect a base fee of €8.6m. Performance bonuses will also see €1m paid for a win and €500,000 for a draw in the group phase. The sides competing in the round of 16 can also expect to receive €3.5m each, the eight quarter-finalists €3.9m and the four semi-finalists €4.9m. The UEFA Champions League winners will pick up €10.5m and the runners-up €6.5m.

Then I wanted to know about CONCACAF Champions League and I was surprised to discover that there's not bonus at all. This is what I found (in french):

http://www.lapresse.ca/sports/soccer/201308/02/01-4676543-limpact-ne-fera-pas-sauter-la-banque-en-ligue-des-champions.php

It is not a surprise: the CONCACAF version of prestigious European tournament has not the same luster, nor the same notoriety. International networks are not bidding for the rights of broadcasts and its influence is rather local. But from there that clubs participating get nothing?

[Grizzly]

Still they sold over 15 000 tickets to the first match against San Jose and those were all bought tickets as the tickets were not part of the season ticket packages. Had it not been pouring rain on the day they probably would have sold a few thousand more. If they make it to the next round they will probably also get one or more games at Olympic Stadium with a 40 000 or 50 000 crowd. If the travel expense compensation is as low as he is claiming teams like Heredia that are not even allowed to play in their home stadium may have something to complain about. Obviously as the competition gets bigger there will be arguments about who gets how much of the pie and who knows how well CONCACAF is utilizing the funds they are getting. Nevertheless, I don't think the Impact, other MLS teams, the Mexican teams or even the large Central American teams with big fan bases have much to complain about as far as the extra revenue they are getting from the tournament at the moment.

[Free kick]

Americans have never really taken to the Concacaf Champions league. There was an american article on this topic a few years ago exploring why it seems that Canadian teams and Canadian fans were supporting the CCL so much better than americans. Yet, even in canada, it was noticable that for many CCL matches there was a bit of a drop off in attendance compared to MLS league matches. As far as the other clubs from Mexico and central america, Mexican clubs seem to draw reasonably well but its mostly only in the matches that are in the later stages (ie.: Winter and Spring) of the competition and furthermore the first half of the CCL is played when the Mexican clubs are in their off-seaon. As for the rest of the clubs in central america, well they are just too small; small fan bases, small / inadequate facilities, small economies, small budgets..etc. Aside from one or two clubs like Saprissa in CRC, they will never make the CCL profitable. So its really up to the americans and mexicans to make this work in the long term.

Unlike the UEFA Champions League, the Concacaf Champions league may never be profitable for Concacaf and the clubs. But it would help if americans stepped up to the plate and supported it better. More often than not, their attendance has been dismal.

Its too bad because the clubs from Mexico are actually very good and can put on a very good show. Its worth the price of admission. But unlike the big european clubs, they just dont have the same brand and name recognition beyond mexican borders. It was disappoitng to see that so many fewer people are willing to pay to see a club like Cruz Azul or Santos L in CCL play compared to the LAG with David Beckham.

[madmonte]

^This is probably because there are many Americans who have never heard of Guatemala. Sadly I tried asking a few kids I teach a few rudimentary geography questions about Central America, and they came up blank too. North America really needs people to like soccer to, if anything, make them learn a little about the world around them, as soccer is such a world game. I really hope things like the CCL DO gain in prestige for that reason alone.