While not of the same prestige as the famed UEFA Champions League competition, the Europa League is a top-class European tournament that comes with not only continental glory but also financial windfall.
UEFA has continued to increase the prize money across all competitions year-over-year, with its total competitive scope across all 2024/25 tournaments boasting a total purse of €3.317 billion ($3.74b).
Of that, €565 million ($640.5m) is earmarked for the Europa League, about 17 percent of UEFA's prize money budget for the full season.
Along with that direct financial windfall, the Europa League title winner will qualify directly to the next season's Champions League competition, which itself comes with an even greater monetary gain. That adds a massive extra incentive to Tottenham and Manchester United ahead of the 2025 final on May 21.
The Sporting News breaks down all there is to gain for clubs by winning the Europa League, both directly from UEFA in the immediate term and the from Champions League qualification next year.
WATCH: UEFA Champions League & Europa League with a FREE trial of Paramount+ in USA
Europa League prize money
For the 2025 season, a club can win a maximum of around €29.6 million (£25.1m) in prize money throughout the competition.
Clubs earn €4.3m just for qualifying to the league phase of the competition, and they can earn even more on performance bonuses through that portion of the competition: wins are worth €453,000 each, while draws are worth €151,000.
From there, the prize money increases with each knockout stage reached, with the title worth €5.9 million all on its own.
| Stage | Prize (€) | Prize (£) | Prize ($) |
| League Phase qualification | €4.3m | £3.6 million | $4.8m |
| League Phase win | €453,000 | £378,000 | $504,000 |
| League Phase draw | €151,000 | £126,000 | $168,000 |
| League Phase top 8 finish | €605,200 | £505,000 | $673,300 |
| League Phase 9-16 finish | €302,000 | £252,000 | $336,000 |
| Round of 16 qualification | €1.8m | £1.5 million | $2m |
| Quarterfinal qualification | €2.5m | £2.1 million | $2.8m |
| Semifinal qualification | €4.2m | £3.5 million | $4.7m |
| Europa League final qualification | €7m | £5.9 million | $7.9 |
| Europa League title | €5.9m | £5 million | $6.7m |
How much is Champions League qualification worth?
In addition to the direct Europa League prize money from above, the winner of the Europa League will qualify directly for the Champions League league phase next season.
The prize money from the Champions League is five times that of the Europa League, so the winning club will gain access to the lucrative top-tier prize.
Qualification to the Champions League league phase was worth a guaranteed €18.6 million for the 2024/25 season, which in and of itself almost doubles the total maximum prize money earned by the Europa League winner. Then, a team can earn an additional €2.1 million per league-phase victory and €700,000 for a draw.
In total, winning the Europa League final could earn Spurs or Man United a basic sum of around €64m (€73m). And it's not just about banking direct prize money, but also securing access to an even bigger purse next season.