It is the time in the season to start thinking about Premier League prize money. Arsenal missed out on not only the title but a record payout last campaign.
Premier League clubs received a total of £2.84billion last season, which was comprised of six payments through the division’s ‘central revenue system’, something the Premier League says ‘ensures the most equitable distribution of funds of any major European league’.
Manchester City were paid £175.9m as champions – just short of their own record £176.2m in 2022/23 – while runners-up Arsenal benefited from having the most games televised and were given £175.5m. They would have broken the record had they won the title.
Sheffield United received £109.7m for their efforts in finishing a distant bottom. It pays to be in the Premier League.
Some of those payments are fixed. All 20 clubs automatically receive around £95m through an equal share distributed based on both the domestic (£31.2m in 2023/24) and international (£55.7m in 2023/24) broadcast deals – those TV rights are lucrative for a reason – as well as £8.2m each from central commercial revenue streams.
The rest is variable, based on where clubs finish and how often their games are selected for broadcast.
How much is each Premier League place worth?
The Premier League merit payments are distributed on a sliding scale from 1st to 20th, made up of combined earnings from domestic and international broadcast deals.
For the 2023/24 season, the difference in prize money was around £2.8m per position. Sheffield United were awarded as much for finishing bottom, all the way up to champions Manchester City receiving £56.4m. It basically helped pay for 95.6% of Omar Marmoush.
That can be expected to fluctuate with inflation and other factors – it was £3.1m per position in 2022/23 – but it offers a rough guide as to what clubs should expect to earn this season.
READ MORE: Arsenal miss out on Premier League prize money record with Crystal Palace the biggest final-day earners
What Premier League clubs will earn based on their position this season
The following is a breakdown of how much prize money each finish is worth, with the team currently occupying that place in the Premier League table brackets.
1st (Liverpool) – £56.4m
2nd (Arsenal) – £53.5m
3rd (Nottingham Forest) – £50.7m
4th (Chelsea) – £47.9m
5th (Newcastle) – £45.1m
6th (Manchester City) – £42.2m
7th (Aston Villa) – £39.4m
8th (Fulham) – £36.7m
9th (Brighton) – £33.8m
10th (Bournemouth) – £31m
11th (Crystal Palace) – £28.2m
12th (Brentford) – £25.4m
13th (Manchester United) – £22.5m
14th (Spurs) – £19.7m
15th (Everton) – £16.9m
16th (West Ham) – £14m
17th (Wolves) – £11.3m
18th (Ipswich) – £8.5m
19th (Leicester) – £5.7m
20th (Southampton) – £2.8m
Where each Premier League club can still finish
Every club bar Crystal Palace and Manchester City (both 30) have played 31 games so far this season, and each can still mathematically finish in a range of different positions with varying prize money attached.
The following is a breakdown of what each club is still competing to earn this season beyond European qualification or survival, based on their possible league finishes.
Liverpool – 1st (£56.4m) to 6th (£42.2m)
Arsenal – 1st (£56.4m) to 12th (£25.4m)
Nottingham Forest – 1st (£56.4m) to 14th (£19.7m)
Chelsea – 1st (£56.4m) to 17th (£11.3m)
Newcastle – 1st (£56.4m) to 17th (£11.3m)
Manchester City – 1st (£56.4m) to 17th (£11.3m)
Aston Villa – 2nd (£53.5m) to 17th (£11.3m)
Fulham – 2nd (£53.5m) to 17th (£11.3m)
Bournemouth – 2nd (£53.5m) to 17th (£11.3m)
Brighton – 2nd (£53.5m) to 17th (£11.3m)
Crystal Palace – 2nd (£53.5m) to 17th (£11.3m)
Brentford – 2nd (£53.5m) to 17th (£11.3m)
Manchester United – 3rd (£50.7m) to 19th (£5.7m)
Spurs – 3rd (£50.7m) to 19th (£5.7m)
Everton – 4th (£47.9m) to 19th (£5.7m)
West Ham – 4th (£47.9m) to 19th (£5.7m)
Wolves – 6th (£42.2m) to 19th (£5.7m)
Ipswich – 13th (£22.5m) to 20th (£2.8m)
Leicester – 13th (£22.5m) to 20th (£2.8m)
Southampton – 18th (£8.5m) to 20th (£2.8m)
What are facility fees?
The only other part of the prize money which is not fixed and shared equally are the facility fees, which are based on how many times each club has been selected for television.
In 2023/24, Arsenal had 31 games televised in the UK, for which they received £26.9m in facility fees. Liverpool had 29 matches and were paid £25.2m, while Manchester City, Manchester United and Spurs (all 28 games) were given £24.4m each.
Burnley were shown on the fewest occasions and received £9.3m in facility fees for their 10 live televised UK fixtures.
This can lead to discrepancies in terms of those variable payments. Everton’s prize money after finishing 15th last season was £132.2m, more than the three clubs immediately above them – Wolves (£130m in 14th), Fulham (£128.6m in 13th) and Bournemouth (£131.5m) – as the Toffees were picked for far more live TV games. Their UK facility fee payment of £20.2m was the seventh highest in the league alongside Newcastle, and higher than fourth-placed Aston Villa’s (£19.4m).
Spurs in 5th (£164.6m) were paid more overall than Villa in 4th (£162.4m), while 8th-placed Manchester United (£156.2m) took home more than 7th-placed Newcastle (£154.7m).
Based on this, Arsenal stand to again earn the most of any club in facility fees this season, with Ipswich faring the worst.
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What Premier League clubs will earn based on their TV selection this season
Sky Sports and TNT Sports have made their Premier League TV picks up to the start of May, meaning each club has had 35 games to choose from for broadcast so far this season. One game generally translates to roughly £0.8m but does fluctuate.
1st=) Arsenal and Liverpool (28 games televised live in the UK each) – worth around £24.4m in 2023/24
3rd) Manchester United (26 games each) – worth around £22.7m
4th) Aston Villa (25 games) – worth around £21.9m
5th=) Chelsea, Manchester City and Newcastle (24 games each) – worth around £21m
8th) Spurs (22 games) – worth around £19.4m
9th) Nottingham Forest (20 games) – worth around £17.7m
10th=) Crystal Palace and West Ham (17 games each) – worth around £15.2m
12th) Bournemouth (16 games) – worth around £14.3m
13th=) Brentford, Brighton, Everton and Wolves (15 games each) – worth around £13.5m
17th=) Fulham and Leicester (14 games each) – worth around £12.2m
20th=) Ipswich and Southampton (10 games each) – worth around £9.3m
How much prize money will each Premier League team be paid in 2024/25?
While it will vary due to inflation, fluctuating operating costs and other mitigating factors, it is possible to estimate how much total prize money each Premier League team will be paid in 2024/25 – before the last round of TV games are announced and with final positions obviously yet to be determined – based on their current placement and the payments made in 2023/24.
1) Liverpool – £175.8m
2) Arsenal – £172.1m
3) Chelsea – £163.8m
4) Nottingham Forest – £163.4m
5) Newcastle – £162m
6) Manchester City – £158.2m
7) Aston Villa – £156.3m
8) Fulham – £143.5m
9) Brighton – £142.2m
10) Bournemouth – £141.2m
11) Manchester United – £140.2m
12) Crystal Palace – £138.3m
13) Spurs – £134.1m
14) Brentford – £133.9m
15) Everton – £125.3m
16) West Ham – £124.2m
17) Wolves – £119.7m
18) Leicester – £112.9m
19) Ipswich – £112.8m
20) Southampton – £107.1m
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