Football: Auckland hoping it make it rain

Auckland City Ramon Tribulietx at last year's Club World Cup. Photo / Getty

Welcome to Moneyball - the football version that is. Tomorrow night, as well as the prestige and global attention, US$500,000 ($753,000) will be on the line when Auckland City take on Sanfrecce Hiroshima in the opening game of the Fifa Club World Cup.

Though it's a drop in the bucket for the Japanese champions - who boast revenues of up to $US70 million per season ($105 million) - it would be a vital windfall for the ASB Premiership club, and for New Zealand Football in general.

As a comparison, the winners of the NRL grand final take $A400,000 ($435,000) while the Super Rugby champions get to keep the gate receipts from the final.

The money is not the main motivation for Ramon Tribulietx and his team but such an amount always attracts attention. Auckland City are already guaranteed US$500,000 from Thursday's match - that's the prize money for seventh place at this tournament - and it increases with every progression, with US$1 million ($1.5 million) heading for the team in sixth place.

The Fifa Club World Cup is not universally popular, with some elements within UEFA regarding it as an inconvenience to their already overburdened clubs. But the tournament has been massive for New Zealand football, pouring around US$7.5 million ($11.30 million, though exchange rates earlier this decade were even more favourable) into the game since our first participation in 2006.

In any given year around half the prize money has gone to the participating club (Auckland City on six occasions and Waitakere United in 2007 and 2008) but the rest is split between the remaining ASB Premiership clubs, with a percentage also accruing to New Zealand Football.

The money has been a financial lifeblood for the smaller New Zealand clubs, who have earned somewhere in the region of $500,000 from the tournament across the decade. It's been vital for those franchises, who face operating costs of between $200,000 to $300,000 to participate in the ASB Premiership.

Indeed, the impact of the Club World Cup money was best shown in the 2010-2011 domestic season. Hekari United of Papua New Guinea were the surprise Oceania representative in the 2010 Club World Cup and several New Zealand clubs felt the hit the following season, without the Fifa prize money flowing into the sport.

Show me the money:
Guaranteed prize money before tomorrow's game: $US500,000
Guaranteed prize money if Auckland City beat Sanfrecce Hiroshima: $US1 million
Total prize money earned by New Zealand clubs at Club World Cup, 2006-2009, 2011-2014: $US 7.5 million