Premier League Prize Money: The £65.7m Gap Between First and Last
Liverpool collected £174.9m from the Premier League for winning the 2024/25 title. Southampton finished bottom and still collected £109.2m. That is the real shape of Premier League prize money: the distance from first to last is £65.7m, but the floor is so high that the worst team in the division earns 62% of what the champion does.
If you searched for premier league prize money expecting a trophy cheque, there is no such thing. The league pays clubs in three pieces, and only one of them depends on where you finish.
How does Premier League prize money actually work?
Every club in the Premier League receives an equal share, a merit payment based on final position, and facility fees for matches picked for live UK television. In 2024/25 the equal share was £96.9m for all 20 clubs: £29.8m from domestic broadcasting, £59.2m from international rights and £7.9m of central commercial income, as set out in Sports Illustrated's breakdown of the league's payments and the league's own 2024/25 central payments page.
Put the champion and the bottom club side by side and the structure is obvious.
2024/25 central payments: champion vs bottom club (£m)
Payment | Liverpool (1st) | Southampton (20th) | Gap |
Equal share | 96.9 | 96.9 | 0.0 |
Merit payment | 53.1 | 2.6 | 50.5 |
Facility fees | 24.9 | 9.7 | 15.2 |
Total | 174.9 | 109.2 | 65.7 |
Is prize money really about where you finish?
Mostly no. The equal share made up 55% of Liverpool's £174.9m and 89% of Southampton's £109.2m. Merit, the only piece that directly rewards a high finish, was 30% of the champion's total and just 2% of the bottom club's.
Prize money is the wrong phrase for it. This is a broadcast-revenue share with a position tilt on top, and the tilt is smaller than most fans assume. A title is worth 60% more than last place in cash terms. That is a bigger cheque, but nowhere near as big a difference as the league table suggests.
How much is each league position worth?
About £2.7m per place. Merit payments in 2024/25 stepped down from £53.1m for first to £2.6m for last, according to NBC Sports. Climbing from 10th to 9th is worth roughly £2.7m. Climbing from 20th to 10th is worth roughly £27m.
Facility fees are a separate pot and they follow television, not the table. Liverpool were selected for live UK coverage 30 times and received £24.9m; Ipswich were selected 10 times and received £8.9m, per the same NBC report. A club can be pulled up or down that line by its pulling power as much as by its results.
What are clubs getting for 2025/26?
Treat anything you see for last season as provisional. At the time of writing we could not confirm an official 2025/26 table. Reports citing sources put champions Arsenal at about £198.7m and last-placed Wolves at about £117.7m, with the merit value per place reported at £3.76m, up from £2.65m the season before, according to SI's reading of The Athletic's numbers.
If those estimates hold, the gap between first and last grows from £65.7m to about £81m. The floor rises too, which is the point: every club gets richer together, and the position tilt stays modest.
Does European football add to this?
Yes, and separately. Everything above covers domestic central payments only. European prize money is paid by UEFA on top of it. Our breakdown of Champions League vs Europa League prize money and the Europa League prize money explainer cover that side of the ledger.
Which part of the money can a club actually influence?
Only two of the three pieces. The equal share is automatic: being in the league is the whole qualification. The merit payment responds to results at about £2.7m a place. Facility fees respond to profile, because broadcasters pick the matches people want to watch.
That makes the practical stake of a single league position small. Dropping three places costs about £8m in merit, which is real money but a fraction of the £96.9m every club banks before a ball is kicked. The gap that matters to a club is between being in the Premier League and not being in it.
Is a £50.5m merit gap enough to change how clubs behave, or is the equal share too generous? Tell us in the comments.
Premier League Prize Money: Frequently Asked Questions
Q: How much prize money does the Premier League champion get?
Liverpool received £174.9m for winning the 2024/25 title: £96.9m equal share, £53.1m merit payment and £24.9m in facility fees. Reports for 2025/26 put champions Arsenal at about £198.7m, but those are estimates.
Q: How much does the team that finishes last get?
Southampton received £109.2m in 2024/25: the same £96.9m equal share plus £2.6m merit and £9.7m in facility fees.
Q: What is the Premier League equal share?
Every club gets the same payment. In 2024/25 it was £96.9m: £29.8m domestic broadcast money, £59.2m international broadcast money and £7.9m central commercial income.
Q: What are Premier League facility fees?
They are paid when a club's matches are picked for live UK television. Liverpool, shown 30 times, received £24.9m in 2024/25; Ipswich, shown 10 times, received £8.9m.
Q: How much is each league position worth?
Roughly £2.7m a place in 2024/25 merit payments, falling from £53.1m for first to £2.6m for last.
