UEFA Champions League prize money 2025/26: Prize money distribution for top finishers, knockout rounds, matches in league phase

Competing in the UEFA Champions League has several benefits, which include lucrative bonuses and sponsors for the club and experience for the players. So, it is understandable why teams are doing everything to secure a spot in what many have described as the “pinnacle competition” for European football.

With the 2024/25 UEFA Champions League campaign reaching its climax, we took the liberty to analyse every prize that will be allocated to every team that will participate in the 2025/26 Champions League.

The prize for the 2025/26 UEFA Champions League campaign is expected to be more lucrative than the previous campaign, mainly due to the number of teams (36) participating in the league phase, unlike the old format that hosted 32 teams in the group stage.

Scores24 shares a breakdown of prize money allocations to the teams that will participate in the 2025/26 Champions League campaign.

UEFA  Champions League prize money 2025/26

There are various ways in which teams participating in the Champions League will earn a share of the prizes, and of course, the performance-related prize money has the lion's share.

Currently, there is no official information regarding the UEFA Champions League 2025/26 prize money. However, let's take a look at how much the prize money was during the 2024/25 season.

For the 2024/25 UEFA Champions League campaign, performance-related prize money accounts for 37.5% ($$) of the overall pot, which is a decrease from last season's 55%. The major cause for this change is as a result of the newly created value pillar gathering up 35%. The other 27.5% of the pot is made up of equal shares — a starting fee, which is shared equally between each of the 36 clubs participating in the league phase.

Performance-based prize money (37.5% of total)

           Stage                                                Prize Money (each club)

• Champions                                              €25m ($27.8m)
• Second-place                                           €18.5m ($20.5m)
• Semi-finalists                                           €15m ($16.6m)
• Quarter-finalists                                       €12.5m ($13.9m)
• Round of 16                                             €11m ($12.2m)
• Knockout round playoff                            €1m ($1.1m)
• League Phase Wins                                €2.1m ($2.3gm)
• League Phae Draws                                €700k ($777.883)

In addition to this, teams will receive a share of the prize money based on the position they finished in during the league phase. The league ranking bonus is bisected into 666 equal shares, initially valued at €275,000, and the club that finished in 36th place will wrap up that solitary share. The 35th-placed team will receive two shares and so on until the team finishing top is awarded 36 shares.

Value pillar (35% of total)

This accounts for €853m of the prize pot and is a mixture of the payments in relation to individual clubs' coefficients and broadcast market payouts. The value pillar is halved into two parts: a European part and a non-European part.

How much will UEFA Champions League participating teams earn?

This last part is worth €670m. UEFA confirmed: "Each of the 36 clubs that qualify for the league phase can expect to receive a league phase allocation of €18.62m, split into a down payment of €17.87m and a balance of €750k.