The million-dollar prize money on the line for teams participating in the 2025/26 Champions League

Monaco is rolling out the red carpet for the Champions League draw, which takes place this Thursday at 12:00 PM (ET) at the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco. For the second consecutive edition, the format will be a league between the 36 participants, with eight matches each, four at home and four away. The draw will be (as was last year) decided by digital technology with the procedure being monitored by independent auditor, Ernst & Young.

The sporting and economic criteria established for the 2024-2027 three-year period remain in place. That is, a 21% increase in profit for participating teams compared to the previous format will once again mean they earn more money than before. UEFA will distribute up to 2.47 billion euros among its 36 Champions League teams for participation, results, and how deep they go in the competition.

Just for participating in the tournament, each team is guaranteed 18.6 million euro ($15.9 million). The prize money for results is higher than before. Each win carries 2.1 million (euro), and a draw 0.7 million; the final league standings will benefit between 0.7 and 10 million; and advancing through the rounds will go from 11 million for the round of 16 to 25 million for winning the final.

There is also the added 'value pillar’, a new concept introduced last year which rewards the teams that generate the most interest. It distributes 850 million, although the majority goes to the teams that have obtained the best results in the Champions League in the last decade.

This has been a key factor for the teams that have been in the final rounds in recent years, such as Real Madrid, Manchester City, Bayern and PSG. It is therefore important to be consistent in the tournament season after season, something that has not been the case recently with Atlético Madrid or FC Barcelona.

Almost 200 million euro

The sum of all the concepts to be distributed by UEFA in the Champions means that the final prize money can rise, in the case of the most powerful teams, to almost 200 million. To do so, they must complete a great league phase, overcome the knockout rounds, ideally go all the way and also have a great value pillar.

The increase in profits distributed by UEFA is due to the fact that more matches are being played (there are two more match days and one more round, a round of 32, although not for all), and this impacts the sale of television rights. However, there is also an underlying strategy by UEFA to please the big clubs in Europe after the threatened split over the Super League. The more money, the fewer complaints.

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