UEFA will pay €2.467 billion to the clubs in the 2026-27 UEFA Champions League and the 2026 UEFA Super Cup. The figures come from UEFA’s circular letter of 13 July 2026, and UEFA says they are provisional: they assume €4.4 billion in gross revenue across its three men’s club competitions, and final payments depend on what it actually receives.
Paris Saint-Germain are the defending champions. They beat Arsenal 4-3 on penalties after a 1-1 draw in the 2026 final at the Puskás Aréna in Budapest on 30 May, winning the trophy for the second season running. The 2027 final is at the Estadio Metropolitano in Madrid on 5 June 2027.
How the €2.467bn is split
From the 2024-25 season the Champions League has had a 36-team league phase in place of the old 32-team group stage, and the prize money was restructured with it. Apart from €30m for the play-offs, the money for clubs in the league phase onwards (€2.437bn) is divided into three pillars:
- Starting fee (27.5%, €670m): an equal share for each of the 36 clubs.
- Performance (37.5%, €914m): fixed amounts for wins, draws, league position and each knockout round reached.
- Value pillar (35%, €853m): a mix of the club’s country market value and its UEFA coefficient, which replaced the old market pool and coefficient payments.
UEFA Champions League prize money 2026-27
| Payment | Amount per club |
|---|---|
| Starting fee (league phase) | €18.62m |
| League phase win | €2.1m |
| League phase draw | €700k |
| League ranking bonus (per share) | €275k |
| Finishing 1st to 8th | +€2m |
| Finishing 9th to 16th | +€1m |
| Knockout round play-offs | €1m |
| Round of 16 | €11m |
| Quarter-finals | €12.5m |
| Semi-finals | €15m |
| Final | €18.5m |
| Winners | +€6.5m |
The league ranking bonus is divided into 666 shares (1 + 2 + … + 36). The club that finishes 36th gets one share, €275k, and each place higher adds a share, so the team that tops the league phase gets 36 shares, or €9.9m. Money not paid out because of draws (€700k per drawn match) is added to the value of those shares.
How much do the Champions League winners earn?
A club that wins all eight league-phase games, finishes first and then wins the final would collect €110.82m from the starting fee and the fixed performance payments alone:
- starting fee €18.62m
- eight wins €16.8m
- first place in the league ranking €9.9m, plus €2m for a top-eight finish
- round of 16 €11m, quarter-finals €12.5m, semi-finals €15m, final €18.5m
- winners’ bonus €6.5m
Top-eight clubs go straight to the round of 16, so they do not collect the €1m knockout play-off payment. On top of all this comes the value pillar, which depends on the club rather than its results. In its European part, the lowest-ranked club gets one share of €935k and the highest-ranked 36 shares, €33.66m; in the non-European part, a share is €346k, so the top club gets €12.46m. A club at the top of both value rankings could add about €46.1m, which puts the theoretical ceiling for the winners at around €157m.
Qualifying rounds and the Super Cup
Clubs knocked out in the Champions League play-offs each get €4.29m and drop into the Europa League league phase. Winners of the play-offs get nothing for that round, because they collect the league phase money instead. Clubs eliminated earlier receive €175k for each qualifying round played and end their run in the Conference League qualifiers, with an elimination payment of €150k (Q1), €350k (Q2), €550k (Q3) or €750k (play-offs). A domestic champion that misses all three league phases gets a further €260k.
The two clubs in the 2026 UEFA Super Cup each received €4m, and the winners an extra €1m.
Europa League and Conference League prize money
| Payment | Europa League | Conference League |
|---|---|---|
| Starting fee | €4.31m | €3.17m |
| League phase win | €450k | €400k |
| League phase draw | €150k | €133k |
| Round of 16 | €1.75m | €800k |
| Quarter-finals | €2.5m | €1.3m |
| Semi-finals | €4.2m | €2.5m |
| Final | €7m | €4m |
| Winners | +€6m | +€3m |
The Europa League pot is €565m and the Conference League pot €285m, against €2.467bn for the Champions League and Super Cup.
Source: UEFA circular letter no. 48/2026, 13 July 2026 (provisional amounts for the 2026-27 season).
Featured photo: AFP / Fabrice Coffrini