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The clubs that were able to combine successful on-field performance with high commercial and television odds were the ones that made the most money.
| Top 10 clubs by revenue in the Champions League 2025/26 | ||
| Place | Club | Revenue, million euros* |
| 1 | Paris Saint-Germain | 156 |
| 2 | Arsenal | 148 |
| 3 | Bayern Munich | 145 |
| 4 | Manchester City | 141 |
| 5 | Liverpool | 139 |
| 6 | Real Madrid | 134 |
| 7 | Barcelona | 130 |
| 8 | Chelsea | 126 |
| 9 | Inter Milan | 121 |
| 10 | Borussia Dortmund | 118 |
*Evaluation based on UEFA fixed payments, performance bonuses, ranking accruals, and commercial payments after the tournament.
Tournament winner Paris Saint-Germain received an additional bonus for winning the final, putting the club in first place in terms of total revenues for the season.
What the clubs’ revenues are made up of
The financial model of the new Champions League consists of three main components.
1. Guaranteed participation fee
Each of the 36 participants in the main stage received a fixed payment of €18.62 million regardless of results.
2. Sports performance bonuses
Clubs earned extra money:
– €2.1 million for winning group stage matches;
– €700,000 for a draw;
– bonuses for a place in the overall table;
– payments for reaching the playoffs;
– €11 million for reaching the 1/8 finals;
– €12.5 million for the quarterfinals;
– €15 million for the semifinals;
– €18.5 million for reaching the final;
– €6.5 million extra to the winner of the tournament.
3. Commercial Payouts (Value Pillar)
The most controversial part of the revenue sharing system is the so-called Value Pillar of around €853 million. Payments depend on:
– TV value of the national market;
– the club’s historical ranking in UEFA tournaments;
– coefficients for previous seasons;
– commercial attractiveness of the club’s brand.
This is why clubs such as Real Madrid, Manchester City or Bayern Munich can receive tens of millions of euros extra even without winning the tournament.
Champions League reinforces financial inequality
In the 2025/26 season, UEFA will distribute around €3.3 billion to the European competitions, of which almost 74% will be allocated to the Champions League. This concentration of revenues has drawn criticism from medium-sized and smaller clubs in Europe, who see the current model as a factor in the growing financial gap between soccer’s elite and the rest of the market.
According to industry analysts, revenues from the Champions League have already become one of the key sources of funding for the largest European clubs, along with national championship TV rights and commercial contracts.
The reformed Champions League has not only increased the number of matches and total prize money, but has also further increased the economic value of participation in the tournament. For the leading clubs in Europe, a successful Champions League season now means additional revenues comparable to the annual budgets of many national championships.
The example of Sheriff
The most successful season of Moldovan clubs in the Champions League was a clear example of this. Sheriff Tiraspol earned €23.8 million in prize money and bonuses in the 2021/22 season.
At the same time, the total budget of the 8 Moldovan Super League clubs in the 2025/26 season is approximately €10-11 million, of which about €6 million falls on Sheriff.
But money in soccer does not decide everything. This is confirmed by the fact that the richest club in Moldova has been unable to win the championship title for the last three seasons.
