Who won the Champions League?

To dismiss football as merely a game played by 22 people on a pitch would be a grave mistake. Because football is more than just a sport, it is a global industry, a cultural phenomenon, and a force that permeates the social fabric of societies. One of the biggest indicators of this power is undoubtedly the UEFA Champions League. This international tournament, which took its first steps in 1955 under the name 'European Champion Clubs' Cup,' was actually heralding the future global impact of football. Born under the aegis of the French sports newspaper L'Equipe, this idea aimed to bring together the most elite clubs from various corners of Europe. In the 1992-1993 season, the tournament shelved the 'European Champion Clubs' Cup' name and adopted the modern Champions League format, further strengthening the dynamics and global impact of football on the international arena.

The 1980s were a period when the neoliberal wind was sweeping the world. American-style neoliberal policies, such as the withdrawal of the state from economic activities, promoting a free market economy, and restricting workers' rights, resulted in a rapid transformation. This process inevitably led to the transformation of football, as it did in every field. The first noticeable development was the Tottenham Hotspur club's move to the London Stock Exchange in 1983. This move marked the opening of a new page in football history and also paved the way for the privatization of clubs and their perception as a new investment tool.

As time rapidly advanced, in 1991, English clubs, demanding a larger share of broadcast revenues, decided to split from the English First League and establish their own organization under the name of the Premier League. This development accelerated the commercialization process of football.

By the new millennium, the process had accelerated even more. In 2003, the purchase of Chelsea football club by Russian businessman Roman Abromovich and his record spending to make the club champions the following year symbolized the beginning of a new and irreversible phase in industrial football. This event triggered other foreign investors, further increasing the dimension of competition in the world of football.

Football clubs have shifted from being places where youngsters felt a sense of belonging, enjoyed the thrill of the sport, and solidified community bonds, to global corporations each pursuing higher profits, replacing this purity. This situation emphasized that football was not just a sport but also a business model and an economic power.

In this new order, "Rich Club" members such as Manchester City, Paris Saint-Germain, and Chelsea achieve worldwide popularity and success with their enormous wage budgets and astronomical transfer fees. However, this success only creates a competitive scene among themselves, reducing other teams to the status of mere pawns. This striking reality shows that football has moved away from being a sport where everyone starts equally and can be champions, to a game of the wealthiest.

This situation brings a challenging process for clubs from economically weaker countries. Teams from countries such as Turkey, Greece, and Poland strive to achieve the same victories with much more limited budgets. For them, economic conditions, wage budgets, infrastructure, and the general development level of football become the factors determining their capacity to compete in the international arena. Unfortunately, this situation leaves them unable to go beyond merely being extras. Here, we see that football has become a reflection of global economic balances, rather than a sport where everyone has equal opportunities.

The Champions League Final show on June 10, 2023, was a vivid example of the economic equation laid bare. On this platform, where the winning team earns more than 75 million Euros just from reward bonuses, apart from advertising revenues, match day revenues, and retail revenues, Manchester City and Inter locked horns in a fierce competition. At the end of 90 minutes, Manchester City became the new owner of the cup, while Inter left the field in disappointment.

If we translate this situation into numbers; Manchester City's annual wage budget is approximately 180 million Euros, and the total value of the team is around 1 billion Euros. On the other hand, Inter's wage budget reaches 130 million Euros, and the total value of the team is around 530 million Euros. In contrast, the wage budget of Galatasaray, the champion of the Turkish Super League, is only 23 million Euros, and the total team value is approximately 176 million Euros. These differences are an indicator of how football reflects the gap between the rich and the poor.

But let's not forget, the total income of these wealthiest teams is not just the profits they make from the Champions League. They recoup their investments with the success bonuses they receive from their leagues, box office revenues, and advertising revenues. However, this situation is directly related to the economic conditions of the countries they are affiliated with. For example, while the revenues from the Champions League are the same for all country representatives, the real difference maker is the income derived from their leagues and hence the economic status of the country they are affiliated with. Imagine a minimum wage in one country being approximately 2100 Euros, and in another, it's just 340 Euros. Consider that per capita national income is 35,000 Euros in one country, but only 9,900 Euros in the other. Can we talk about fair competition in light of this data? Compared to the minimum wage, Manchester City's wage budget is equivalent to 82,758 minimum wages. On the other hand, Galatasaray's wage budget corresponds to 66,205 minimum wages. We would normally expect the opposite of this situation, but here we have a different situation. We can explain this difference as follows; In England, the average wage level is 40% more than the minimum wage, whereas in Turkey, it is 33% more, meaning the general wage level in Turkey is very close to the minimum wage and a large proportion of workers work for a minimum wage, while in England, only a certain portion of people work for the minimum wage, and the general wage average is much higher than the minimum wage level. If we do an analysis based on the poverty line; While the poverty line (for a family of four) in England is 21% of the minimum wage, meaning a family earns income five times the poverty line with just a single minimum wage, in Turkey, this figure equals 103% of the minimum wage (according to January 2023 data), which means a family earning a single minimum wage income unfortunately falls below the poverty line.

From another perspective, a Manchester City fan working for minimum wage can come to Istanbul to watch the final match for 750 Euros (36% of his salary), while a Turkish fan earning a minimum wage of 340 Euros could only dream of watching the same final match if it had been held in England.

As for the contribution of the Champions League Final to the national economy, considering that approximately 50,000 people came to our country to watch the final, stayed all weekend, and spent an average of 250 Euros per day including accommodation, this totals 25,000,000 Euros. If we add the 2-3 weeks of accommodation made by the preparing teams, we can roughly estimate this figure at around 45-50 million Euros. On the other hand, considering that 16 million tourists came to Istanbul in 2022 and they spent an average of 920 Euros per person, we reach a total of 14.72 billion Euros, which is an average of 40 million Euros per day.

As for the real winner of the Champions League; I can't tell who the real winner is, but it wouldn't be too hard to say that income justice has lost.

See you in my next article.