Five ways to win in Moscow

Manchester United and Chelsea will share in the richest club match in the history of football this evening. The Champions League final is expected to generate more than £200 million of spending, prize-money and television income, with the teams sharing at least £115 million, according to research by Professor Simon Chadwick, director of Coventry University’s Centre for the International Business of Sport.

He estimates that the winning club will take home £85 million in prize-money and various commercial benefits, with at least £30 million for the losers.

But the economic effect of the final covers all aspects of sporting life, with millions rushing to supermarkets to buy drinks and snacks, bars open with big-screen televisions showing the final, betting shops flooded with interest and about 50,000 fans flying to Moscow.

Chadwick said: “This is not only the greatest prize in European football, but it is expected to be the biggest yet in economic terms, with a total cumulative impact that could be upwards of £210 million.

“Quite apart from the qualifying, group and knockout stages of the tournament, this places the final itself on a par with the world’s leading regular, one-off sporting events, such as the National Football League’s Super Bowl in the USA.”

The tens of thousands of fans, VIPs and television company staff could make Moscow £35 million richer, with their spending on hotel rooms, food and drink, Chadwick’s survey for MasterCard claims. But there will also be a £10 million bonus for the city that hosts the winning team, through increased tourism and confidence among the local population, buoyed by having Europe’s champion team.

At home, ITV will cash in by raising advertising rates for slots around the final by 50 per cent. A 30-second slot during the match is the most valuable on the channel at £200,000-plus.

The research on the all-English final in Moscow is backed up by a study for Sainsbury’s Finance, which claims that the expected 50,000 fans of the clubs in the Luzhniki Stadium this evening will spend on average £624 on their trip to Russia, excluding the cost of tickets. The cumulative sum in the pockets of supporters will amount to more than £40 million.

Two nights in a hotel will be about £320, with more than £80 for taxis to and from the airport and a further £120 for food and drink, assuming that they are of a conservative nature, which can be rare among football fans. Sainsbury’s allowed for only ten local beers and eight soft drinks per person.