SOCCER:THE UEFA Champions League final in London tonight is set to break all economic records but organisers may have to look outside Europe for future market opportunities and growth, a report said yesterday.

Tonight’s final between Manchester United and Barcelona at Wembley is set to be the most lucrative in European club football, boosted by the clubs’ strong brands, the latest annual MasterCard survey said.

It could be worth €369 million to the clubs and countries involved, a rise of five per cent on last year. But the rate is a slowdown on previous finals, indicating the European market may have become saturated, and that Uefa will have to look to new markets such as the emerging economies, South and Central America and BRIC countries for future growth. The presence of a British team in the final was likely to have contributed to the dip.

“Europe is a mature market, and I think medium-to-long term, maybe Uefa has to look towards other markets across the world for continuing and sustained growth,” the author of the report, Professor Simon Chadwick, told reporters.

Manchester United, who won the English Premier League earlier this month, play Spanish champions Barcelona in a re-run of their 2009 final in Rome, won by the Catalan club. Up to 220 million television viewers are expected to watch the world’s most high-profile clubs battle it out, each hoping to lift the cup for the fourth time.

The winning team can expect to earn a windfall of €126 million, up five per cent on last year, but down on the nine per cent the year before. The losing finalist could hope to pick up €73 million, a rise of 4.3 per cent on last year, but lower than the 7.7 per cent the year before.

The economic downturn was one of the reasons for the slower growth, while more refined data could be another, Chadwick said.

London can expect to generate €52 million from hosting the game, a four per cent rise on Madrid last year.

It should further bolster the British capital’s reputation as one of the world’s most sporting cities, especially ahead of the 2012 Olympics, but the figure is less impressive than the 11 per cent generated by Madrid on its predecessor, Moscow.

“In terms of the British economy ideally it would be two foreign clubs,” Chadwick said.

Switching the final to a Saturday has had positive results, but it has yet to fully bed down with fans, Chadwick said.