Chelsea Club World Cup Run Banks at Least $100M for Mark Walter Sports Empire

Chelsea won its spot in the Club World Cup final with a 2–0 win over Brazilian side Fluminense on Tuesday afternoon, securing a nine-figure payday from FIFA.

The club’s lead ownership includes Mark Walter, who recently purchased the Los Angeles Lakers for a deal valuing the team at a record $10 billion. Through his companies, Walter also owns the Dodgers, part of the Sparks, and Cadillac’s Formula One team, and is the primary financial backer of the PWHL.

Chelsea’s win Tuesday guarantees another $100 million at least for Walter’s sports empire.

Here’s the breakdown of Chelsea’s winnings so far:

• FIFA distributed the biggest payouts of its participation pool to European clubs, and while the exact amount is unknown, Chelsea is expected to be on the higher end of that spectrum. With the minimum at $12.81 million and the maximum at $38.19 million, Chelsea likely made around $25 million to $35 million from the participation prize
  
• $4 million for two wins in the group stage
  
• $7.5 million by reaching the round of 16
  
• $13.125 million by making the quarterfinals
  
• $21 million by advancing to the semifinals
  

The team has earned roughly $70 million to $80 million from the Club World Cup so far, and the dollars are still flowing. The victor of the final brings home $40 million, while the loser gets $30 million.

That means Chelsea will walk away with somewhere between $100 million to $120 million, based on its participation prize and how the squad competes in the final against Real Madrid or Paris Saint-Germain.

Ahead of Tuesday’s match at MetLife Stadium, which kicked off at 3 p.m. local time in New Jersey, Chelsea players had posted links to purchase tickets on their Instagram Stories. The match recorded an official attendance of 70,556 fans, filling up most of the full-sized NFL stadium, but a smaller crowd than Saturday’s Real Madrid–Borussia Dortmund match in the same venue (which had 76,611 fans).

Chelsea received a $36.5 million fine from UEFA on Friday for breaches of financial rules and has spent roughly $200 million this offseason on transfer fees for João Pedro, Jamie Gittens, and Liam Delap. The squad had to sell off hotels and its women’s team (to itself) to narrowly avoid harsh Premier League financial rules about spending relative to revenue. The Club World Cup gives Chelsea a nine-figure boost to its coffers to help avoid or soften those financial breaches.

Fluminense’s elimination guarantees an all-European final, and the largest sums of money heading back to already extremely wealthy UEFA clubs. FIFA had hoped to carve out an identity beyond just Europe, with president Gianni Infantino jubilantly posting about “The NEW ERA OF CLUB FOOTBALL” after a Saudi side stunned Manchester City. Instead, the new era looks a lot like the old one. Chelsea, PSG, or Real Madrid will hoist the trophy Sunday. Those clubs have won four of the last five Champions League titles, and seven of the last ten.