Celtic Get Richer As Scottish Football Doesn’t
With Celtic set to clinch their 13th Premiership title in 14 seasons on Saturday, we want to bring up our least favorite topic in sports (and in life): money.
That’s because money matters in sports (and in life), and the Hoops’ recent track record in the league proves the point. Now, the Parkhead club appear to have expanded their cashflow advantages even further.
The Full Scottish
Served by Brian P. Dunleavy
After Rangers’ loss in Bilbao last week, the European campaign for both of Glasgow’s big two is now complete and the figures are in—perhaps not surprisingly, they don’t look pretty for the side from Govan.
According to media folks with heads for math bigger and better than ours, Celtic’s run to the knockout play-off round of the revamped Champions League brought in nearly £28 million in prize money from UEFA this season (the first time Brendan Rodgers’ side have made it past the group stages of the competition since 2013).
That figure is nearly three times the total of approximately £9.6 million Rangers received during their Europa League campaign.
Both sides of the Glasgow divide far out-earn their competitors in the Premiership, of course, a fact that won’t be lost on the likes of Hibs, Hearts, Aberdeen and Dundee United, the other so-called “big clubs” in Scotland.
Mind The Gap
As far back as ’Gers are from Celtic in the 2024-25 league table—15 points, as of this writing—Hibs sit a distant third (13 points behind the Ibrox side).
That gap isn’t likely to close any time soon, even with Celtic no longer having the luxury of direct Champions’ League qualification as league champions (they will have to navigate one playoff round in August to qualify for the 2025-26 tournament). As second-place finishers, meanwhile, Rangers will have successfully pass through multiple qualifying rounds.
Given that, neither Glasgow club will be happy to learn of a potential rule change to the Champions’ League that could see UEFA scrapping extra-time in the knockout rounds and heading straight for a penalty shootout. Should UEFA make that adjustment, it could also impact the qualifying rounds, meaning that in the case of a draw at full-time the winner could be determined directly from the spot.
A crapshoot that—but in Scotland only two clubs really roll lucky 7s anyway.