Brighton and Hove Albion could be looking at a top-six finish, and reaching the European dream, but what would that mean for their finances?
Football finance expert Kieran Maguire broke down the costs on the Brighton and Hove Albion podcast.
He explained: "It is really exciting [looking at a top six finish]. Some people have already thought about booking hotels for next May. Which is probably taking things a bit far. We could be in three European competitions, we could be in none. There's a huge buzz of excitement amongst the fanbase."
So is reaching the Champions League a gamechanger for the club, over the other two European competitions financially?
Maguire added: "If you take a look at the distribution of prize money. For every £100 given out in prize money, £74 goes to the Champions League, £18 to the Europa League and £8 to the Europa conference. To a certain extent it's Champions League or nothing."
Maguire explained the Europa Conference League can be difficult for clubs financially, because games are then often played on Sundays and Thursdays – typically more difficult days to sell hospitality packages. In addition, there's the need for a bigger squad.
"You actually make less money from the Premier League if you're in the Europa Conference, you don't make much money yourself," Maguire added.
"Palace have earned £15m this year. But by the time you have paid for travel, player bonuses and invested in an extra two or three match-standard players in the squad, you're actually down in money.
"Some of these revenue streams are overstated. Just how much exposure are you going to get? How much extra shirts are you going to sell? Even if Brighton do get into the Champions League, where are all the eyes? On Liverpool, Arsenal etc. Because they are the bigger brands. There will be people watching Albion, and you're hosting Real Madrid and Bayern Munich, they're great as a one-off. But I don't think it is as lucrative for the ancillary revenue streams.
"Then there's the sensitive issue of how you price the matches. Would they expect prices to be higher? Yes. Then you've got the fan backlash as they're going, 'you've go this money from sponsors, TV, why are you now taking money off us?'
"The Albion need to get that decision right. I don't think they will maximise revenue because Tony Bloom is a Brighton fan. I don't think they will go down that route if they do go there."
Listen to the full episode on BBC Sounds here
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