Arsenal hasn’t played in the Champions League in five years, their latest appearance coming in 2017 against Bayern Munich. Given their financial predicament, a return could not arrive fast enough. Arsenal’s return from the international break has them in the greatest shape they’ve been in in a long time.
Arsenal and Champions League
After a six-year absence, a return to the Champions League is becoming more likely. Only Manchester City and Liverpool have overcome Mikel Arteta’s team since the beginning of December.
The flashbacks of starting the season at the bottom of the Premier League standings are gradually fading. At the time of writing, they are three points ahead of Tottenham and have a game in hand.
Arsenal’s destiny is very much in their own hands because the two teams still have to face each other in the league. Because both Spurs and sixth-placed Manchester United have flaws on the pitch, the Gunners will be able to drop more points this season without suffering too many costs.
About the Champions League Qualification
If they do come back to European football’s top flight, the timing could not be better. In the end, the club’s financial statistics for the 2020/21 season were released, and it was not encouraging. They reported a post-tax loss of £107.3 million, the highest in the company’s history, with the epidemic contributing to up to £85 million of that.
Even though the club had laid off 55 staff, a topic that received far fewer headlines than the signing of a dazzling new player, all of this happened. Given the club’s current financial predicament, a reinstatement to the Champions League would be huge.
Qualification for the group stages is worth €15.64 million in and out of the competition, with each win worth €2.8 million and each tie worth €930,000. Winning the round of sixteen, where Arsenal last participated in the tournament in 2016/17, is worth an extra €9.6 million.
That’s £27.5 million if we assume two victories and two draws in the group stages, and that’s before we add in four lucrative home matches. Additionally, having been there in the first place has resulted in higher commercial profits, with the possibility for even more.
A quarter-final appearance would be valued at another €10.6 million, or £8.95 million at current exchange rates, plus a home match. It adds up rapidly, and the benefits don’t stop there.
UEFA may Implement Changes
UEFA is likely to adopt their reforms to the competition’s format for the 2024/25 season, which will include a Swiss-style league table. This will result in more matches – five at home in the ‘group stage,’ instead of three – and, most likely, greater money opportunities.
Arsenal should compete in the Champions League to be eligible for the heavily criticized coefficient method. This will enable clubs with strong European records over the past five years to compete even if they would otherwise be unable to do so. Arsenal’s present standing is dismal.
And then there is the minor issue of the symbolic value of returning to this particular competition. Arsenal qualified for the Champions League 19 times in a row between 1998 and 2017, and their absence has been the most visible sign of the club’s decline.
Bringing More Dollar
Champions League qualification may deliver dollar signs to the club’s owners’ sights, but the fans value the club’s return to Europe’s top division. Covid’s financial clout has already resulted in a price increase for season tickets, which Arsenal fans haven’t seen in a long time.
Season ticket prices at the Emirates haven’t been hiked in seven years, but they will increase by 4% to begin next season. While it’s easy to praise the club for maintaining them at the same level for so long, this is more of a case of the prices adjusting to the rest of the market.
Given the team’s recent slide in league standings, the lowest Arsenal season ticket stays the most expensive in the country. The Emirates Stadium will, at the very least, be remodelled. Supporters have long lamented the absence of Wi-Fi, flickering huge screens, bad public speaker systems, and inaccurate ticket readers at the doors.
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