The ups and downs that AC Milan have experienced so far this season could prove costly in the end, as highlighted by Gazzetta dello Sport this morning. 

Ruben Amorim’s tenure at the club has certainly been a mixed bag so far. While the results in the league have been okay with 21 points after 10 games, they have been the opposite in the Europa League with a mere three points after four games.

As Gazzetta dello Sport reports this morning (see featured image), the problem isn’t just that Milan are struggling on the pitch, but also that it could have a massive effect on the finances. Between a top-four finish and a Europa League failure, we are talking about €100m.

Europa League disaster

Starting with the present, Milan have collected a mere €14.6m from the Europa League so far, excluding ticket sales for the games against Benfica and Ferencvaros. In other words, it’s just the guaranteed revenue plus the prize money for a win (€450k).

Direct qualification to the knockout phase, which was definitely the goal at the start, has now become rather difficult. Not even winning all of the remaining four games would be a guarantee, as that would take Milan to 15 points, and 16 might be required.

The feeling is that Milan have to focus on reaching the knockout play-offs instead. If they were to fail even with that, as the pink newspaper continues, we would be talking about a loss of €8m for the round of 16, between prize money and ticket sales.

Looking at the bigger picture, given that the Rossoneri among the favourites to win the competition in the summer, doing so would generate total revenue of €40m. Furthermore, lifting the trophy would secure qualification to the Champions League.

Champions League increase

After missing the last two editions, failing to qualify yet again would be a massive failure for the entire RedBird project. This is especially true as the 2027-28 season will mark the beginning of a new cycle for UEFA in terms of commercial and TV rights, with numbers expected to significantly increase.

According to the newspaper, the total pot of prize money for the participating clubs will increase from the current €2.46bn to €2.8bn. For the Rossoneri, this would mean going from a minimum revenue of around €40m to around €50m, even before stepping onto the pitch.

To this figure, one must add around €10-15m from the ticket sales, so failure to qualify for the competition next season would mean missing out on a minimum of €60m (!). It could quickly rise to €70-80m too, so we really are talking about a lot.

Qualifying for the Champions League would increase the overall revenue by more than 20% and fuel Milan’s project of growth, especially since other improvements are on the cards too. For example, from 2028-39, Adidas will start paying €50m per season to the club.