Real Madrid led the prize money list for last season’s Champions League, earning nearly 139 million euros ($154 million), as confirmed by UEFA on Thursday. This amount was part of a total prize fund exceeding 2 billion euros ($2.22 billion), which has increased by 25% this season due to the new expanded format featuring more teams and games.
UEFA’s distribution formula included over 36 million euros ($40 million) for Madrid as the top-ranked club before the season started, plus an additional 14 million euros ($15.5 million) from broadcast rights revenue.
Paris Saint-Germain ranked second in earnings with 122.4 million euros ($135.7 million), despite being eliminated in the semifinals. This included 34 million euros ($37.7 million) from TV rights, shared with Lens, the only other French team in the group stage.
Borussia Dortmund, the runner-up, narrowly surpassed Bayern Munich, with both clubs earning over 120 million euros ($133 million) each. German broadcast revenue was divided among four teams.
In the Europa League, Bayer Leverkusen, which finished as runner-up, received the highest payout of 41.2 million euros ($45.7 million), while winners Atalanta earned nearly 34 million euros ($37.7 million).
Liverpool, eliminated in the quarterfinals by Atalanta, earned less than 27 million euros ($30 million) from UEFA. Manchester City received 110.5 million euros ($122.5 million) for reaching the Champions League quarterfinals as the defending champions, with an additional 4.5 million euros ($5 million) from the Super Cup, where they faced Sevilla, the 2023 Europa League winners.
Barcelona earned just 98 million euros ($108.6 million) for their quarterfinal finish, marking another financially challenging year for the club amid player registration issues.
Manchester United received less than 61 million euros ($67.6 million) for finishing last in their group, while Newcastle earned 34 million euros ($37.7 million), including under 5 million euros ($5.5 million) from club ranking payments.
The smallest payout went to Belgian champions Royal Antwerp, who received less than 22 million euros ($24.4 million), the lowest amount among the clubs.
UEFA also allocated 25 million euros ($27.7 million) to the European Club Association, led by PSG president Nasser al-Khelaifi, which represents hundreds of clubs and helps manage the competition’s commercial strategy.
These financial details were revealed in UEFA’s annual financial report during its meeting in Belgrade, Serbia.
