8 most lucrative competitions in world football based on prize money | OneFootball

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Sport, in particular football, can generate clubs and players millions, even billions of pounds. Every year, clubs battle to move up one position in their league table. It could mean an extra couple of thousand or millions, depending on their league.

Not only is their league position so valuable, but the domestic, continental, and international competitions they can compete in can generate lots of money for them. Each season in the Premier League, teams fight it out to finish in the top four because of the revenue the Champions League can provide them.

We saw during COVID-19 that the money generated by certain competitions has created tension. Teams outside looking in on the Premier League are envious of the amount each club makes. The attempted formation of the Super League came from the desire of clubs to make sure they’re making the most amount of money possible, especially those outside the Premier League.

With more competitions and current competitions looking into expansion plans, what competition is most lucrative for a club team? Here are the most lucrative club competitions in world football based on prize money.

All money is converted from dollars or euros to pounds, so may differ depending on the exchange rate at the time. The amounts are correct at the time of publishing.

9 FIFA Club World Cup - £12.7m

Starting our list of most lucrative football competitions is the FIFA Club World Cup. This tournament sees the Champions League winners from each respective continent, plus one host nation team, battle it out for the trophy. There are plans to expand the tournament to 32 teams. This will start in June 2025.

UEFA has dominated since its inaugural tournament in the 2000/01 season. 15 of the winners have been from Europe, while the other four have been from South America. The most successful team in the FIFA Club World is Real Madrid, who’ve won it five times.

The winner, as of 2023, receives a reported £3.9m, with the runners-up winning £3.1m. The price pot for the FIFA Club World Cup is a reported £12.7m. This is split across all the teams in the tournament.

8 UEFA Conference League - £200m

Next on the list is one of UEFA's newest club competitions, the Conference League. The two winners of the tournament so far have been Roma and West Ham United. Despite question marks over UEFA’s decision to create a new tournament, it has allowed new clubs to experience European club football.

The reported prize pot for the tournament is £200m, which isn’t bad given it’s still a new format. When Roma won the inaugural tournament, they picked up £17m for doing so. For the smaller European nations or smaller teams in the bigger nations, the prize money is very attractive.

As the tournament grows, with more sponsorship coming into the tournament, the prize money will increase. UEFA’s risk of adding another tournament has been a great benefit to clubs across Europe.

7 UEFA Europa League - £405m

Sticking with UEFA, the Europa League has a prize pot of £405m for the clubs that get into UEFA’s second tournament. The Europa League has been around in some form since 1971, starting as the third-tier tournament before becoming number two in 1999.

Spanish teams have dominated in recent history. Sevilla have won the Europa League a record seven times in their history. The winners of the tournament receive £19.7m in total, plus a bonus for each round they reach. Clubs can also gain extra money depending on the value of their TV market.

The club winning the tournament also knows they’ll be in for a big payday the following season. By winning the tournament, they get a spot in the group stages of the Champions League the following season. The jump to the Champions League money is massive for many clubs.

6 La Liga - £794m

The top league in Spain is fourth on the list, with a reported prize pot of £794m for the clubs in the league. It’s no surprise a league with two of Europe's giants, Real Madrid and Barcelona, has such funds to splash.

A reason their prize pot is so big is thanks to a TV deal done by La Liga recently. Telefonica Movistar bought the domestic live TV rights for £1.62 billion in a three-year deal. MediaPro also splashed out £643m for three years, a total of £1.9 billion over three years of domestic deals.

Details of the exact prize money for the 2022/23 season aren't out yet. However, when Real Madrid won the league in the 2021/22 season, they received £135m. Eibar, who finished bottom of the league, still received an impressive £41.6m.

5 Bundesliga - £992m

The German league, dominated on the field by Bayern, shared £992m between the 18 clubs in the 2022/23 season. Bayern, as winners, received £65.43m from the Bundesliga for their success. At the bottom end, Hertha Berlin received £27.12m as they were relegated from the top division.

Over the last ten years, the Bundesliga has seen increased revenue. This went to another level when the league agreed to a four-year TV contract with the United Kingdom. Their overseas deal is worth £855m from 2021-2025, but their domestic deal is worth £3.9 billion over the same period. The Bundesliga shares 70% of this equally between the clubs and 30% based on league position each season.

4 Serie A - £1.2billion

Serie A may not be at the same height as it was during the 1990s, but it’s a league with lots of worldwide interest. This interest has helped generate income that’s being spread between the teams competing in the league.

The Serie A works on a 50-30-20 model. 50% of the money is split equally between all the clubs. 30% is allocated based on the final league table. The final 20% is awarded based on each team’s popularity and fan base, measured by TV audience, stadium attendance, social media followers, etc.

For the 2022/23 season, the prize pot in the league was £1.2 billion. The winner of Serie A receives £20m from the league, this doesn’t include TV arrangements and sponsorships. Despite the league prize pot being substantially more than La Liga, the splits mean you don’t receive as much for your league position. However, with the 50% equal split, each club profits massively.

3 UEFA Champions League - £1.5 billion

UEFA’s elite club competition comes in at number two in our list of the most lucrative competitions in world football. Having started in the 1955/56 season, the competition has gone from strength to strength and is one of the best earners for clubs in Europe. No wonder clubs spend so much on players to mount a challenge for Champions League spots.

For the 2022/23 season, the Champions League prize pot was £1.5billion. This pot is split amongst the clubs competing, including those who enter the play-off stage and receive £222,452. Each stage a team progresses to, the more money they’ll receive.

It’s yet to be revealed how much Man City won in 2022/23. In the 2021/22 season, Real Madrid pocketed £122.64m for winning the Champions League, £17.11m of that was prize money. The winning fee is made up of several bonuses, including performance bonuses and bonuses for progression each round.

There are expansion plans for the Champions League that’ll come into action in the 2024/25 season. More teams will enter the competition, which will see a rise from 32 teams at the group stage to 36 teams. It’s not known what the increase in teams will do for the prize money for each club. However, you’d expect more sponsorship money to be negotiated, so teams don’t lose out.

2 Premier League - £2.6 billion

It won’t come as a surprise to see the Premier League sitting pretty at the top of the list of most lucrative football competitions. The Premier League is the envy of world football. It attracts millions of viewers each week and boasts some of the most lucrative TV and sponsorship deals. Even teams who only last a season in the league have a massive financial boost.

Since its formation in 1992, the Premier League brand has revolutionised football, both on and off the field. The income generated for each club has steadily built over the years. In the 2022/23 season, the Premier League prize pot was £2.6 billion. The exact figure each team received in that season is yet to be revealed. In the 2021/22 season, league winners Man City received £161.3m. Norwich City, who finished bottom, received £100.3m.

The reason relegated Premier League clubs receive nearly as much, or more in some cases than other competitions is clear: TV deals. When it comes to TV deals for the Premier League, there’s always a big battle with large sums of money from those interested. The current three-year deal is worth £8.36 billion, the domestic deal is £5.136 billion and overseas £3.2 billion.

Domestic deal money and overseas deal money are shared differently. The money is divided by three to leave a certain amount each season, while the overseas deal is shared 100% equally between each club. The domestic deal is split 50-25-25. 50% is shared equally, 25% is based on league position, and the other 25% is based on how often the team is on TV.

1 Football competitions with the highest prize money