Bank notes on a football pitch
Champions League money is absurd
With a long old way to go, some teams have already banked £50m or more from the 2026/27 Champions League season so far.
There is a reason that eight of Europe’s biggest spenders in the 2026 summer transfer window came from the Premier League, including all five Champions League qualifiers: prize money.
The financial reward on offer in numerous competitions are preposterous and perhaps no more so than in the Champions League, in which clubs can earn well in excess of nine figures.
How does Champions League prize money work now?
As part of the revamped formats for their three main competitions, UEFA announced a revenue distribution system for how the total prize money of around £2.88billion would be allocated each season up to 2026/27.
Just over £2.1bn (74.38%) will be distributed to clubs competing in the Champions League and Super Cup, £490.7m (17.02%) to teams participating in the Europa League, and £247.5m (8.6%) split between those in the Europa Conference League.
In the Champions League, the pot is further broken down into:
Equal shares (£581.7m/27.5%) – a set ‘starting fee’ of £16.2m for all 36 clubs which qualify for the league phase, who are guaranteed this money regardless of subsequent results in the competition.
Performance-related fixed amounts (£793.6m/37.5%) – £1.8m per each league phase win, £608,000 per each league phase draw and £238,000 per each league phase position, going up in increments from the team in 36th receiving £238,000 and the team in 1st receiving £8.57m.
Undistributed amounts from each league phase draw – £608,000 – are also allocated proportionately to these ranking payments at the end of the league phase, so the prize money for positions will be higher.
There is also extra money on offer for finishing in the top eight and for coming between 9th and 16th. This is how Manchester City, Chelsea and Spurs made a fortune despite being knocked out in the last 16 last season.
The ‘value pillar’ (£740.6m/35%) – a combination of payments based on club coefficient rankings and the TV pool. This can be harder to accurately calculate but will naturally reward the ‘bigger’ clubs and traditional elite.
Paris Saint-Germain, Bayern Munich, Real Madrid and the Premier League’s four regular European qualifiers in Manchester City, Liverpool, Arsenal and Aston Villa would be the biggest winners here, with Sabah, Viking and Slovan Bratislava due more modest sums.
A rough estimation of all 36 participating clubs’ value pillar payments will be factored into the final prize money total, which for a few clubs should far exceed £100m.
How much prize money has each Champions League team already earned?
The following is an estimated breakdown of how much prize money each team has already earned from participating in the Champions League in 2026/27, before matchday revenue and other factors are taken into account.
Paris Saint-Germain – £59.79m
Bayern Munich – £54.86m
Liverpool – £54.22m
Manchester City – £53.52m*
Real Madrid – £51.44m
Arsenal – £51.26m
Borussia Dortmund – £48.6m
Inter – £47.53m
Aston Villa – £46.81m
Manchester United – £46.72m
Barcelona – £46.61m
Roma – £42.88m
Atletico Madrid – £42.67m
Lille – £39.78m
Napoli – £39.04m
Leipzig – £38.96m
Sporting – £37.86m
Real Betis – £36.61m
Porto – £36.18m
Lens – £34.18m
PSV £33.14m
Villarreal – £31.56m
Stuttgart – £31.31m
Feyenoord – £29.88m
Club Brugge – £29.68m
Bodo/Glimt – £29.42m
Como – £26.87m
Shakhtar Donetsk – £25.91m
Fenerbahce – £25.85m
Slavia Praha – £25.64m
LASK – £24.59m
Galatasaray – £23.39m
AEK – £21.42m
Viking – £20.27m
Slovan Bratislava – £20.15m
Sabah – £16.81m
How much prize money can each Champions League team still earn?
The league phase really is remarkably lucrative, with money on offer for wins, draws and final position.
There is an extra £1.74m on offer for finishing in the top eight and £868,000 for coming between 9th and 16th, with each league phase position worth £238,000 going up in increments to the team in 1st receiving £8.57m.
That money should break down as follows, before the undistributed amounts from each league phase draw are taken into account:
1st) £8.57m
2nd) £8.33m
3rd) £8.09m
4th) £7.85m
5th) £7.62m
6th) £7.38m
7th) £7.14m
8th) £6.9m
9th) £6.66m
10th) £6.43m
11th) £6.19m
12th) £5.95m
13th) £5.71m
14th) £5.47m
15th) £5.24m
16th) £4.99m
17th) £4.76m
18th) £4.52m
19th) £4.28m
20th) £4.05m
21st) £3.81m
22nd) £3.57m
23rd) £3.33m
24th) £3.09m
25th) £2.86m
26th) £2.62m
27th) £2.38m
28th) £2.14m
29th) £1.9m
30th) £1.67m
31st) £1.43m
32nd) £1.19m
33rd) £952,000
34th) £714,000
35th) £476,000
36th) £238,000
On top of the payments for each league phase win, draw and placement, there are also significant amounts on offer for progressing through the Champions League.
Each knockout round is worth more money:
Reaching the knockout round play-offs – £868,000
Reaching the last 16 – £9.55m
Reaching the quarter-finals – £10.85m
Reaching the semi-finals – £13.02m
Runners-up – £16.06m
Winners – £21.7m
Reaching the Super Cup final is also worth another £3.47m, with an additional £868,000 for winning it.
So winning every league phase game en route to lifting the trophy itself should bank a minimum £115.56m even before TV and coefficient money is factored in. Which is daft.