Man City & Chelsea set for huge £60m windfall from Club World Cup appearance - but Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami will earn lower amount

According to the Daily Mail, the $1bn broadcast deal signed with DAZN will mean both clubs are set to earn between £50m and £60m from their participation in the US-based tournament taking place next summer. It's thought that major European clubs like City and Chelsea are being handed higher participation fees in order to guarantee their commitment to the competition, which has been criticised for its impact on fixture congestion.

City will compete in the tournament due to their status as England's current champions, while Chelsea were granted entry because they were the last English team to win the Champions League (besides Guardiola's team). However, clubs without the global reputations and vast wealth of these two will not be handed such lucrative deals to compete; it's thought by the Mail that MLS franchises like Inter Miami won't earn anywhere near this figure.

The FIFA Club World Cup draw took place last Thursday and saw Chelsea and Real Madrid earn favourable draws whereas other top European clubs such as PSG landed themselves in difficult groups. Kicking off in the United States in June 2025, the latest edition of the CWC will be set up extremely differently as part of Gianni Infantino's never-ending quest to restructure the global game in his image.

The draw for the group stages of the Club World Cup pushed us a little closer to the new era of this global competition, but the reorganised tournament continues to divide opinion. While many players, coaches, and fans in Europe have struggled to get behind the new-look format (largely because of concerns about fixture congestion), reports suggest that Latin America is broadly in favour of the recent changes.