Despite losing to PSG in the Champions League final, Arsenal still set a prize money record

Paris Saint-Germain defeated Arsenal in the Champions League final, yet the north London side did not come away from Hungary without reward following their money-making run to Budapest.

Arsenal lost to PSG 3-4 on penalties after the match ended 1-1 following 120 minutes of play in this season's Champions League final.

According to calculations from The Athletic, Paris Saint-Germain's second consecutive Champions League title brought them an additional bonus of around €146 million (£127 million; $170 million).

Winning the nerve-wracking penalty shootout on Saturday evening gave Luis Enrique's side an extra €6.5 million (£5.7 million) in prize money, adding to the estimated €139 million (£121 million; $162 million) they had already accumulated. And the revenue stream didn't stop there. Qualifying for the UEFA Super Cup, where they will face Aston Villa in Salzburg this August, will bring them an additional €4 million (£3.5 million), and another €1 million (£0.9 million) if they win that match. This €4 million is not yet included in the detailed total mentioned above.

Meanwhile, runners-up Arsenal are projected to receive a record amount for an English club, reaching up to €143 million (£125 million; $166.7 million).

This massive income is particularly significant for Paris amid the severe decline in domestic TV rights in France. Winning the 2024-25 Ligue 1 title (their third consecutive domestic crown at that point) only generated €38.5 million (£32.4 million) in league prize money, six times less than what Arsenal pocketed from their Premier League title. Domestic prize payments in France's top flight (which PSG also recently defended their title in) are expected to drop even further in the 2025-26 season.

As for the opponents they defeated in Budapest on Saturday night, no English Premier League club had previously surpassed £300 million in broadcast revenue in a single season. Now, with the UEFA money combined with nearly £200 million from winning this season's Premier League, Arsenal will set a new historic milestone. Chelsea is also expected to achieve a similar feat thanks to last year's Club World Cup success, but Arsenal's broadcast income this season will be a new record for an English club.

While PSG and Arsenal lead the way, the 36 clubs that participated in this year's Champions League group stage shared a total prize pool of €2.428 billion (£2.113 billion; $2.83 billion). In addition, €30 million (£26 million) was distributed equally among the seven clubs (€4.29 million each) eliminated in last summer's play-off round. This is the second consecutive year UEFA has paid out nearly €2.5 billion to Champions League participants, a significant increase from the €2.0 billion level during the three-season cycle from 2021 to 2024.

Out of that total, €905 million (£788 million) was allocated based on performance, meaning teams that advanced deeper naturally earned the most. Arsenal's perfect record in the league stage meant that, even before the weekend's final result, they had already earned more from performance bonuses than PSG, who finished 11th in the group stage and reached the final via the knockout play-off round for the second consecutive year.