Newcastle United Champions League prize money confirmed as major UEFA official blunder costs them millions

Newcastle United exited the Champions League on Wednesday night following a 2-1 defeat to AC Milan at St James' Park.

The result saw The Magpies finish fourth in their group and exit European competitions entirely. But with just over half an hour to go in the match against Milan, Eddie Howe's side were 1-0 ahead and on course to progress to the last-16 of the competition.

They were also less than 10 minutes away from finishing third and securing Europa League football before Milan struck late on. In the space of 25-minutes, Newcastle had gone from being second in their group, to third, to bottom and out of Europe.

Here is a breakdown of the prize money earned by the club...

Champions League prize money

The total prize pot for the Champions League this season stands at around £1.74billion (€2.03billion) which is broken down into performance-based prize money (approx. £957million), a coefficient pay-out (approx. £517million) and a broadcast pay-out (approx. £260million). Here's how much Newcastle earned from each...

Performance-related prize money

Newcastle United earned £13.37million just for qualifying for the Champions League group stage. Clubs then get £2.41million per group stage win and £820,000 per draw.

The Magpies ended the Champions League group stage with one win, two draws and three defeats. The 4-1 win over Paris Saint-Germain banked the club a further £2.41million and the draws at PSG and AC Milan £820,000 each.

Newcastle can feel particularly aggrieved at the decision to award PSG a stoppage-time penalty last month with Kylian Mbappe's 98th minute equaliser costing the club £1.59million. The UEFA match officials were deemed to have incorrectly applied the handball rules in awarding the penalty.

UEFA coefficient pay-out

Roughly 30% of the total prize pot (approx. £517million) is paid out to all 32 group-stage clubs in a weighted manner based on UEFA's coefficient algorithm. The money is distributed based on shares dictated by European performance over a 10-year period.

With this season's competition Newcastle's first European outing since the 2012-13 season, the club's coefficient is amongst the lowest in the competition - which will see the club earn around £950,000. In comparison, top-ranked side Real Madrid will receive a £31.35million payout.

Broadcast pay-out

The £260million broadcast pay-outs are distributed to clubs based on the number of matches they played in the competition and their national federation. 50% of the allocation is a fixed percentage based on a club's national federation and the other 50% of paid out proportionally based on the number of matches played.

Newcastle exiting the competition at the earliest possible opportunity obviously impacts the number of matches they have played but they will still receive a share of the broadcast pay-out allocation given to English clubs.

How much Newcastle United earned in Champions League prize money this season

Not including broadcast revenue, Newcastle United's Champions League group stage campaign earned the club £18.37million in prize money in total. A win against PSG or draw with AC Milan could have earned them a couple more million pounds as well as the opportunity to earn more in the latter stages of the Champions League or Europa League.

The prize money Newcastle United missed out on

Reaching the last-16 of the Champions League earns clubs £8.27million while a quarter-final spot is worth a further £9.13million. Semi-finalists receive a £10.77million while finalists receive £13.35million each with the winners earning a further £3.88million on top of that.

Clubs exiting the Champions League and entering the Europa League last-16 play-off earn £430,000. The prize-money in general is significantly lower than the Champions League with last-16 in the Europa League earning clubs £1.03million.

A quarter-final place is worth £1.55million and it's £2.41million for the semi-finals. Finalists earn £3.96million each with the winners earning a further £3.45million.

So Newcastle made more money competing in the Champions League group stage (£18.37million) than was potentially up for grabs in the Europa League (£12.83million).