The UEFA Champions League is the pinnacle of cup football, altering the financial stratosphere of the clubs who are able to qualify for the competition through their domestic leagues.
The 2022 Champions League final will herald an enormous package for the winners, though slightly reduced compared with the last campaign's prize money because of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The two 2022 finalists — Real Madrid and Liverpool — know that they can nearly double their knockout round prize haul should they hoist the title. While the quarterfinalists settled for $12 million of additional prize money, the winner of the tournament comes away with an extra $23 million.
Champions League teams pick up money all along the way in the competition. The group stage comes with a baseline prize package with teams adding to that total with every win or draw during that group stage. Then every round of the knockouts comes with a fresh bonus.
MORE: Breakdown of Champions League prize money in 2021
Champions League 2022 prize money
The Champions League finalists in 2022 will each receive a prize of $17.59 million simply for reaching the final two of the competition. The winner of Europe's premier competition is set to pick up an extra $5.1 million due to qualifying for August's UEFA Super Cup, a one-off final which pits it against the winners of the 2022 Europa League (Eintracht Frankfurt).
- Champions League Winners: $22.69 million
- Champions League Runner-Up: $17.59 million
The full picture of the prize winnings for the 2021-22 Champions League is outlined in the table below.
For making the group stage alone, the 32 clubs involved each took home a minimum of $17.74 million. They were able to add to that with every win and draw in the group stage.
| Stage | Prize Money |
|---|---|
| Winner | $22.69 million |
| Runner-up | $17.59 million |
| Semifinalists | $14.18 million |
| Quarterfinalists | $12.02 million |
| Round of 16 | $10.89 million |
| Group-stage wins | $3.17 million |
| Group-stage draws | $1.05 million |
| Group stage | $17.74 million |
Below are the highest-earning clubs during the 2021-22 Champions League through to the final.
By winning all six of their group matches and also advancing to the final, Liverpool are at the top of the prize money list.
The English side reached nearly $92 million in prize money just by making the final, and that could turn into nearly $97 million should the Reds win it all. (The figures below are updated through the end of the semifinals.)
| Rank | Team | Revenue |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | Liverpool | $91.44 million |
| 2. | Real Madrid | $89.32 million |
| 3. | Manchester City | $67.51 million |
| 4. | Villarreal | $65.39 million |
| 5. | Bayern Munich | $59.67 million |
| 6. | Chelsea | $54.38 million |
| 7. | Benfica | $49.09 million |
| 8. | Atletico de Madrid | $48.04 million |
| 9. | Ajax | $47.65 million |
| 10. | Juventus | $44.48 million |
| 11. | Lille | $40.24 million |
| Manchester United | $40.24 million | |
| Paris St Germain | $40.24 million |