It's the tie we were all hoping for. Shamrock Rovers have been drawn to take on AC Milan in the Europa League qualifiers, with the Italian giants set to travel to Tallaght next month.
While Milan are not the power they once were, it will still be a fantastic occasion for Irish football. It's just a pity that there will be no supporters in attendance to see it.
Shamrock Rovers are not strangers to glamour ties such as this one. They faced Juventus in the qualifiers for this competition in 2010, while Spurs were in their group for the 2011 edition.
In normal circumstances the visit of a European superpower would guarantee a huge financial windfall for the club involved. As we know, we are living in far from normal circumstances at the moment.
Shamrock Rovers will receive a financial boos from this tie, but it is unlikely to be at the level they would have hoped for.
The obvious thing missing on this occasion is gate receipts. Tallaght Stadium would have sold out easily for the visit of Milan, with the potential for an even bigger crowd at the Aviva Stadium.
Even if the Irish Government were to have a hugely unlikely change of heart and allow spectators at sporting events before this game on September 17th, UEFA have already decided that all of these qualifying fixtures will be held behind closed doors.
As a result, Shamrock Rovers will miss out on a large chunk of change from ticket sales.
That won't be the only stream of income that has been cut.
With these being one-off games as opposed to two-legged ties, UEFA have also made a change to how the money accrued from broadcasting rights will be distributed amongst the two clubs.
This would be worth a pretty penny in a traditional two-game tie.
Whereas there would be a move even split in normal circumstances, the governing body has now implemented the rule that the home team will only earn from the broadcasting rights within their own country.
Bit of a disaster for Rovers missing out on the bonanza drawing Milan would normally have been. Before the last round club officials said that the away team gets tv rights for everywhere bar the host nation so any Italian broadcast money seems set to go to Milan.
— emmet malone (@emmetmalone) August 31, 2020
This is something that Bohemians experienced recently, with the Irish club owning all broadcasting rights outside of Hungary for their recent game against Fehevar. Their stream of the game, which the club broadcast themselves, could be purchased around the world.
Unfortunately, Shamrock Rovers will not be granted that opportunity due to this rule.
While it won't make up for this loss, the club could potentially recoup some of the money in the form of extra advertising in the stadium. The lacks of supporters in the stands could allow for advertising to be placed in seating areas.
If they can pull off an upset and advance there will also be the promise of more prize money in the next round.
This is still a huge tie for Shamrock Rovers, it just won't add as much to their bank balance as it could in other circumstances.
