The £50m windfall carrot for Rangers as Europa League…

The £50m windfall carrot for Rangers as Europa League bonus potential laid bare

Rangers have earned around £13m for their participation and performance in the Europa League this season.

The Ibrox side are into the quarter-final where they face Athletic Bilbao in a crucial second leg in the Basque region on Thursday. The score is 0-0 after the first leg.

Barry Ferguson and his players will be dreaming of a run to the final of the competition just three years after finishing as runners-up to Eintracht Frankfurt.

Progression in the competition means significant prize money for Rangers, however, should they achieve the remarkable feat of lifting the trophy, then they would secure a Champions League football next season, along with a spot in the Super Cup final.

Combined, guaranteed Champions League league phase participation and competing in the Super Cup would see Rangers bank in the region of €23m (£20m). In context, that is more than they have earned for all of their efforts so far in Europe this season.

Qualification to the semi-final would see Rangers earn €4.2m with a spot in the final worth €7m. Winning the Europa League is worth an extra €6m.

If you add the winnings and participation payments which are associated with winning the Europa League to the money already banked this season, then the figure approaches €56m (£48m). That is not including any ticket sales which would only increase the number.

The figure also does not include legacy UEFA payments for the European Value Pillar and Non-European Value Pillar. Celtic earned €13.44m from those payments in the Champions League last season.

Add those into the mix and Rangers winning the Europa League could be worth as much as €70m (£60m).