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The Finance Base
2025/26 season

Champions League Prize Money for the 2025/26 Season: How the UEFA Distribution Works

UEFA allocates €2.467 billion to the Champions League and Super Cup for 2025/26, with €2.437 billion for clubs from the league phase onward. Here’s how equal shares, results, ranking, play-offs and solidarity payments differ.

By TheFinanceBase Team 3 min read

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UEFA’s 2025/26 allocation for the Champions League and Super Cup is €2.467 billion combined. The Champions League pool for clubs from the league phase onward is €2.437 billion; each of the 36 league-phase clubs is allocated €18.62 million before performance, ranking, progression and value-pillar payments are added.

What does the 2025/26 Champions League prize-money total include?

UEFA allocates €2.467 billion to the Champions League and Super Cup combined. That figure includes €30 million set aside for Champions League play-off participants. The amount available to Champions League clubs from the league phase onward is €2.437 billion. UEFA’s financial distribution overview and its 2025/26 distribution circular set out these allocations.

Keep that figure separate from UEFA’s broader projected totals. UEFA projects €4.4 billion in gross revenue and reports €3.548 billion in net revenue across the Champions League, Europa League, Conference League and Super Cup. It identifies €3.317 billion for clubs participating in the centralised phases from the league phase onward across those competitions—not Champions League prize money alone. Within that amount, the allocation is €2.467 billion for the Champions League and Super Cup, €565 million for the Europa League and €285 million for the Conference League.

How much does a club get for qualifying for the league phase?

Each of the 36 Champions League league-phase clubs has an equal-share allocation of €18.62 million for 2025/26. That is the starting component, not the club’s final total. UEFA’s published league-phase-onwards pool is divided into three pillars:

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Pillar Published total What it covers
Equal shares €670 million; €18.62 million per club An equal allocation to each of the 36 league-phase clubs
Performance-related amounts €914 million Match bonuses and payments tied to league-phase ranking
Value pillar €853 million A combined mechanism reflecting country market values and individual club coefficients

The published aggregate allocations do not establish a final amount for any individual club. Results, ranking, progress through the knockout rounds and value-pillar calculations all affect what a club ultimately receives.

What do clubs earn for wins, draws and league-phase ranking?

For the 2025/26 league phase, UEFA sets the match bonuses at €2.1 million per win and €700,000 per draw. Ranking payments are calculated separately using 666 equal shares—the sum of the rankings from 1 to 36. Each share is initially worth €275,000: the team ranked 36th receives one share, while the top-ranked team receives 36 shares.

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Any money not paid out as draw bonuses is distributed proportionally according to league-phase ranking, increasing the value of the shares. Clubs finishing 1st to 8th also receive €2 million each; clubs finishing 9th to 16th receive €1 million each.

How much does the Champions League winner get?

UEFA’s published schedule does not establish one definitive season-end total for the 2025/26 winner. The winner’s eventual allocation depends on the club’s league-phase results and ranking, knockout progress and value-pillar amount. A fixed winner’s total would therefore go beyond the figures established by the published distribution rules.

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Are play-off payments and solidarity money part of club prize money?

Champions League play-offs

The €30 million play-off allocation is separate from the €2.437 billion league-phase-onwards pool. Clubs eliminated in the play-offs receive €4.29 million each. Winners receive no specific payment for that round because they enter the league phase.

Solidarity payments

UEFA separately describes €308 million in 2025/26 solidarity payments for eligible clubs outside the league phases and clubs eliminated in qualifying rounds. In its 27 July 2026 explanation, UEFA says €258 million is for non-participating clubs from associations outside the top five, while England, Italy, Spain, Germany and France each receive a fixed €10 million. Of the €258 million, 70% is allocated according to each association’s place on the 2025/26 access list and 30% through a competitive-balance share tied to the top-earning club in each association.

Eligible recipients are generally top-division clubs that did not participate in a league phase and that meet selected UEFA club-licensing criteria; some second-division clubs may qualify under conditions. These solidarity payments are a separate channel, not part of a Champions League league-phase club’s prize-money allocation.

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