The structure of the distribution: the four pillars, why club totals differ, solidarity payments and the link to financial sustainability.
The money in the competition is shared through four pillars. Each club receives a base share, earns performance payments, draws on a value pillar and takes a portion of the market pool.
Core
The base share is the first pillar of the distribution. It is paid to every club that reaches the league phase, before any result is counted, so participation itself is rewarded.
Core
Performance payments follow the football. A club earns money for its results and for the rounds it reaches, so a longer run through the competition compounds into a larger share.
Intermediate
The market pool ties a club's share to the television market of its country. It is the pillar that reflects geography, and it makes the money of the competition as continental as the football.
Core
Solidarity payments carry the competition's revenue beyond the clubs that play in it. Part of the money is shared with leagues and clubs outside the tournament, so its value reaches the wider game.
Intermediate
The money of the competition meets the rules of sustainability. Clubs are judged not only on what they earn but on what they spend, and the two systems are designed to work together.
Intermediate