THE £70 MILLION MATCH

LONDON. — Forget the bragging rights — victory in tomorrow’s titanic Liverpool vs Manchester United clash at Anfield could be worth as much as £70million.

While nothing will be decided in the latest instalment of the old rivalry, we will be a lot closer to knowing who will be in pole position to land a treasured place in the top four and the Champions League qualification that it brings.

The victors can look forward to a £70m cash bonanza from appearing on Europe’s biggest stage, thanks to the TV money and gate receipts that it brings.

The losers, however, may be advised to find out what number ITV4 is on their TV boxes and brace themselves for the prospect of a fraction of that sum from the Europa League.

In the packed stands it will all be about what happens on the pitch.

In the directors box, however, officials will no doubt be calculating the rewards of glorious victory and the cost of miserable defeat.

Should Louis van Gaal’s visitors triumph in the early kick-off, they will stretch the gap on Liverpool to five points, with eight matches to play.

Victory for Brendan Rodgers’ resurgent Reds would see them take over fourth spot by a point.

A draw and the advantage remains with the visitors from the other end of the Ship Canal.

While officials from both clubs are desperate to make the Champions League, failure to do so would do more damage to the Old Trafford coffers.

United, perennial participants, are already counting the cost of this year’s non-participation.

Figures recently released reveal that they are set to see a drop in revenue of around £50m as a result of their inability to qualify under David Moyes.

Should they repeat the trick this year, that figure will rise to around £70m, thanks to the new TV deal with BT Sport which is worth an extra £20m.

Then there is United’s £750m kit deal with Adidas. That features a £22.5m penalty should they fail to qualify for the Champions League for two consecutive seasons. If the unthinkable happens, the loss would hit a staggering £100m.

The impact another year without Champions League football would have on existing and potential sponsors cannot be quantified, but it could run into millions.

United have a vast commercial operation, with offices in Manchester, Mayfair and Hong Kong aimed at squeezing every penny out of their global brand.

While they could label one year without Champions League football as a one-off, investors may see two years of non-qualification as more of a trend.

That logic would no doubt spread to the New York Stock Exchange where failure to qualify could have an impact on the club’s share price.

In 2013-14, when United were knocked out by Bayern Munich in the quarter finals, they picked up £31.3m in broadcasting money alone.

As for prize money, UEFA pay around £800 000 for each win and £415 000 for a draw.

There is also the extra gate receipts, although this would be offset by an appearance in the Europa League.

Season ticket holders at United commit to buying tickets for European matches and they would be looking to pick up around £2m per game.

All of the above would help both clubs when it comes to complying with Financial Fair Play regulations.

However, the latest, staggering £5bn TV deal for Premier League TV rights is a game changer.

United privately believe that could give them the clout to finally overtake Real Madrid and end the talent drain that saw Cristiano Ronaldo and David Beckham depart Old Trafford for the Bernabeu.

There is not only Champions League cash up for grabs.

At the end of the season the Premier League dishes out ‘merit’ money based on finishing position.

Last year the difference between Arsenal, who finished fourth and Everton, who finished fifth, was £1.24m.

Liverpool and United are seemingly out of the title race. This is not a battle for honours, but the match is set to be the most-viewed of the season.

It will be broadcast to 645 million homes across 175 countries, with the global fan-base enjoyed by both a major factor. There is much more than three points at stake, but then there always has been. — Mailonline.