Winning the Europa League might not be as glossy as lifting the Champions League trophy, but victors still earn a lucrative pool of money on top of automatic Champions League qualification.
Teams competing in the Europa League accrue an increasing sum of money the further they advance in the tournament, with the winners obviously earning the most.
Manchester United are fighting it out with Villarreal for the Europa League crown this campaign, and here's what participants – and the winners – are set to earn.
How much will the 2020-21 Europa League winners earn?
Similar to the way that the Champions League money allocation is formatted, prize money for the Europa League is organised into individual payments based on each team's finish in the competition. These numbers are based on and influenced by the value of the broadcast market.
For the 2020-21 campaign, same as the 2019-21 season, Europa League competition winners earn €8,500,000 (£7.5m/AU$13m). The runners-up earn €4,500,000 (£4m/$6m).
Teams who participate in the group stage earn a base fee of €2,920,000 (£2.5m/$3.5m), while each win in the group pays €570,000 (£515k/$1m) and a draw €190,000 (£170k/$290k).
Each group winner then earns €1,000,000 (£900k/$1.5m), while each runner-up receives €500,000 (£450k/$800k).
Teams who then manage to reach the knockout stage of the competition are then awarded additional prize money: €500,000 (£450k/$800k) for the round of 32, €1,100,000 (£1m/$1.7m) for the round of 16, €1,500,000 (£1.4m/$2.3m) for the quarter-finals and €2,400,000 (£2.2m/$3.8m) for the semi-finals.
Sides like Manchester United, who dropped to the Europa League following their group stage involvement in the Champions League, will pocket an even larger cash windfall.
According to the Manchester Evening News, Man Utd have already earned €23.4m (£20.2m/$36.9m) for their Champions League action this season – including an initial €15.3m (£10.79m/$18.7m) for taking part in Group H.
Winning the Europa League, then, would earn Man Utd €16.9m (£12m/$26.7m).
| Position | Prize money (AU) |
|---|---|
| Winners | $13,400,000 |
| Runners-up | $7,100,000 |
| Semi-finalists | $3,800,000 |
| Quarter-finalists | $2,400,000 |
| Round of 16 | $1,700,000 |
| Round of 32 | $800,000 |
| Group winners | $1,500,000 |
| Group runners-up | $800,000 |
| Group match draw | $300,000 |
| Group match victory | $900,000 |
| Play-off round elimination | $470,000 |
| Third qualifying round | $440,000 |
| Second qualifying round | $410,000 |
| First qualifying round | $380,000 |
| Preliminary round | $350,000 |
