Earnings of Top Teams in Europa League 2024/25: Breakdown of Team Incomes
In January, following the conclusion of the 2024-2025 Europa League's group stage, Sports.com provided a comprehensive analysis of the prize money distribution. In total, participants will receive €585 million, a notable increase of €110 million from the previous season. This increased payout is set to continue for at least the next two seasons.
The majority of the funds have already been distributed to teams, with additional bonuses for winning the tournament and reaching the final to be paid out in the summer. The allocation of prize money is determined by various factors, including a team's country's TV market value, UEFA club coefficients, group stage results, and playoff results. Even teams that performed poorly, such as those that lost all eight matches, are guaranteed a minimum payment of €4.68 million.
- €155 million: equal shares for all tournament participants
- €198 million: Value Pillar payments, distributed based on the size of the TV market and club coefficients
- €212 million: result-based payments
In the Europa League, wins are crucial during the main stage of competition, but drawing in the playoffs can advance teams to the next stage. Even if a team reaches the final, defeating all opponents, and another draws with all opponents, they will still receive the same payments. In the group stage, a win was worth €450,000, while a draw was worth €150,000. For comparison, a win in the Champions League was worth €2.1 million.
In the event of a draw, the money is not wasted; instead, UEFA transfers it to a separate fund, which is distributed proportionally based on a team's position in the standings at the end of the season. For instance, the last-place team, Qarabag, received €83,000 for 36th place, while Lazio, who finished first, received €2.99 million.
UEFA also pays out a portion of the money based on a team's position in the standings. The worst team receives a €75,000 bonus, while the best team receives 36 times that amount (€2.7 million). However, the actual amounts may differ, with UEFA transferring any additional funds to a separate pool.
Seven additional teams in the 2024-2025 Europa League received additional €4.29 million each from UEFA. These teams were eliminated in the final stage of Champions League qualification: Bodo/Glimt, Qarabag, Slavia, Galatasaray, Midtjylland, Malmoe, and Dynamo Kyiv. These bonuses significantly impacted the rankings, with the Norwegian champion, Bodo/Glimt, earning a higher position due to these payments.
Total prize money for the 2024-2025 Europa League equals approximately USD 632 million (around MYR 2.7 billion). The Value Pillar significantly boosts earnings for clubs with high club coefficients and from countries with lucrative broadcast markets.
For example, Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United are projected to earn approximately £26.41 million and £21.75 million, respectively, including all bonuses and TV market value payments. Each team's final earnings depend heavily on how far they progress in the tournament and their coefficient ranking.
- Despite losing all matches in the group stage, teams receive a minimum of €4.68 million in the Europa League, indicating that even poor ratings don't significantly impact the prize money distribution.
- In the 2024-2025 Europa League, seven teams who were eliminated in the final stage of Champions League qualification, namely Bodo/Glimt, Qarabag, Slavia, Galatasaray, Midtjylland, Malmoe, and Dynamo Kyiv, received additional €4.29 million each, demonstrating that sports success is not only determined by football performance but also by factors such as TV market value and UEFA club coefficients.
