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Arsenal have already made a fortune in the UEFA Champions League this season, and they look set to only add to the purse
Arsenal have banked millions in prize money following their 3-1 aggregate win over Bayer Leverkusen in the last-16 of the UEFA Champions League. The Gunners were held to a 1-1 draw at the BayArena in the first leg before cruising to a 2-0 victory at the Emirates Stadium a week later.
Next month, Mikel Arteta's side will lock horns with Sporting CP in the quarter-finals. The Portuguese giants overcame a three-goal deficit to progress into the next round of the competition, putting five past Bodo/Glimt in the return fixture at the José Alvalade Stadium.
Regardless of whether he north Londoners make it past Sporting in a couple of weeks, they are set to be handsomely rewarded for their efforts in the competition. When UEFA expanded each of the three club competitions, they announced the introduction of a new revenue distribution system worth almost £3billion.
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The football governing body promised that just over £2.1bn (74.4 per cent of the prize pool) will be distributed to clubs competing in the Champions League and Super Cup. They also set aside £490.7m for teams competing in the Europa League, and £247.5m for teams competing in the Conference League.
Like every other club in the European top-flight, Arsenal were awarded £16.2m by UEFA just for taking part. The European governing body offers £1.82m per victory in the 'group phase', so Arteta's side was granted an additional £14.6m, having won each of their eight games.
UEFA also offers £239,000 per final position in 'group phase', so the Gunners pocketed a further £8.6m. They also reward clubs that finish in the top eight and advance directly to the last 16, so Arsenal earned a further £9.6m for their efforts.
Arteta had earned the club an eye-watering £48.9m in prize money before the knockout stages had even began. Having secured a place in the quarter-finals, the north Londoners added £10.9m to their purse.
If Arsenal can reach the semi-final and final, they will earn an extra £13m and £16.1m, respectively. The Champions League winners are then awarded a further £5.7m.
At the start of the season, Arteta outlined his ambition to win the Champions League. In September 2025, the Arsenal boss said: "Well, that tells you, with our long history, how difficult it is because we haven't won it yet, and that's the opportunity.
"That's how I see it, but pressure is the opportunity that drives that energy and that willingness to be better every single day. Every decision has to be with that standard and with those expectations, so let's give our best chance to try to do it.
"The big clubs [who have won it], they try seven, eight, nine times, and they maybe win two. So, in this competition, it's going to be one that you fail much more than you succeed.
"That's the nature of it. That's the history of our club, and that's what we want to change..."
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