Celtic Reveal Brutal Financial Impact Of Champions League Exit

Celtic’s media rights revenue fell by almost £24.6million during the year to June 2026, with the club pointing to Europa League football rather than the Champions League as the main reason behind the wider fall in income. The accounts show media rights income dropping from £45.208m in 2025 to £20.610m in 2026. Overall revenue also fell from £143.597m to £111.032m, a reduction of more than £32.5m across the year. Chairman Brian Wilson directly linked the fall in revenue to Celtic playing in UEFA’s second competition last season rather than the Champions League. He said: “Turning to a summary of our financial results, revenue decreased to £111.0m (2025: £143.6m) primarily as a result of dropping into the Europa League as compared to the Champions League in the prior year. ” General view of the stadium before the UEFA Europa League, knockout phase play offs, first leg match at Celtic Park, Glasgow. The effect was not limited to the money Celtic received from UEFA. Wilson added: “As well as directly impacting UEFA distributions, this also had a knock-on effect on other parts of the Club including ticketing income and retail. ” Ticketing revenue fell from £49.789m to £49.096m during the year. Commercial operations and sponsorship also dropped, from £36.105m to £31.713m, while stadium operations came down from £10.461m to £7.801m. The biggest movement, though, came in media rights. The £24.598m fall accounts for a large part of Celtic’s overall revenue reduction. It should not be read as the exact cost of missing the Champions League, as the accounts do not say every pound of the media-rights drop came from that alone. Celtic do, however, make clear that playing Europa League football instead of Champions League football was the main reason for the fall in total revenue. Celtic’s Callum McGregor leaves the pitch at full time after the UEFA Europa League, league phase match at Celtic Park, Glasgow. That makes this season’s Champions League exit even more relevant. Celtic lost to LASK in the play-off and will again play in the Europa League rather than the Champions League league phase. Chief executive Michael Nicholson said: “Reaching the league phase of the Champions League is an objective for us all, and we are sorry not to have achieved it. ” The financial figures published this week relate to the previous season, so they do not include the impact of this year’s defeat to LASK. Celtic’s next set of accounts will show what another season outside the Champions League has meant financially.