The Orange Lionesses will receive a significantly higher bonus for their performance at the upcoming European Championship than at the previous European Championship. The KNVB (Royal Dutch Football Association) is pleased with this, but also regrets the high costs incurred at the tournament in Switzerland.
UEFA requires national associations to pay higher bonuses. The European football association applies the same requirements for this European Championship as FIFA does at major tournaments: players are required to receive a certain amount of the total prize money earned.
It is not yet known what amounts this will involve for the Orange Lionesses, as it is still unclear how much the Netherlands will bring in in total. However, it is clear that “30 to 40 percent” of the prize money will go to the players.
“These are major changes, with major increases for players,” said director of amateur football Jan Dirk van der Zee on Thursday during a press conference at the KNVB Campus in Zeist.
The increased prize money fits into the trend that was initiated a few years ago. In 2022, the KNVB decided to reward the Orange Lionesses for commercial activities in the same way as players on the men’s team.
According to Van der Zee, this is a logical development. “It fits in with the professionalization of women’s football. The exact percentage will be determined depending on the results. But everyone is very happy with this.”
KNVB regrets high costs
Yet Van der Zee regrets the UEFA rule from the KNVB’s perspective. Because a specific part of the prize money must go to the players, the football association itself retains less from the tournament.
And that is while the KNVB, according to Van der Zee, is incurring considerable costs in Switzerland. “Switzerland is an extremely expensive country. I have never experienced that before for a major tournament. This tournament will cost us 3.5 to 4 million euros.”
According to Van der Zee, the budgeted amount is considerably higher than the costs incurred during the World Cup in Australia and New Zealand in 2023. For that tournament, the Netherlands had to travel to the other side of the world. Also, they had to fly for every match.
The Dutch women travel to their matches by bus during the European Championship in Switzerland. Nevertheless, the tournament is therefore more expensive for the KNVB.
Three group matches of the Netherlands are sold out
Van der Zee further confirmed that UEFA has increased the prize money for the European Championship by 156 percent. The total prize pool is 41 million euros. At the European Championship three years ago, it was 16 million euros.
Each participant receives 1.8 million euros in starting money. The European champion can earn a total of 5.1 million euros.
Furthermore, this will most likely be the most visited European Championship ever. A total of 673,000 spectators are expected. The three group matches of the Orange Lionesses are already sold out, says Van der Zee.
“We think that this tournament will be a huge boost for women’s football, just like the European Championship in 2017 (which the Netherlands won, ed.) and the World Cup in 2019,” says the director. “We are very confident that this team can make it a fantastic tournament.”