Prize money in the Bundesliga is pretty much where you would expect it to be, trailing to the vast sums afforded annually to Premier League and La Liga clubs, but trumping Serie A and Ligue 1.
In 2025/26, the 18 clubs participating in the German top-flight are set to receive an equal share of £434m with a whopping £1bn then divvied up depending on where each club finishes in the league.
Naturally, the bulk of this fortune is derived from TV rights, the DFL (Deutsche Fußball Liga) striking a bumper new deal for the coming year, amounting to a little shy of a billion pounds.
With the broadcasting deal increased by 2% from the previous year, the financial state of German football can be said to be in rude health.
Bundesliga Prize Money Table
Winner - £66.4m
Runner-up - £65.1m
3rd £62.5m
4th £61.8m
5th £60.8m
6th £58.7m
7th £56.9m
8th £55.1m
9th £52.2m
10th £52m
11th £47.7m
12th £46.3m
13th £43m
14th £40m
15th £37.7m
16th £36.2m
17th £30.8m
18th £27.5m
Moreover, the same is true of individual clubs. Last term, both Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund benefited to the tune of £90m+ for reaching the last eight of the Champions League while Eintracht Frankfurt were paid handsomely for going deep in the Europa League.
Here though, we are focusing solely on prize money rewarded for domestic excellence, though even clubs destined to drop next May can expect a considerable pay-out.
Title Winners
As stated above, 30% (£434m) of the overall prize pot is divided evenly between the 18 clubs. To further muddy the waters, the remaining 70% given over to prize money based on performances – i.e. where a club ultimately finishes – is never a ‘set’ amount.
Instead, other considerations are factored in, such as the average league placings over the last five campaigns, as well as viewing figures from live matches shown on television.
What is detailed below therefore is a breakdown of last season’s payouts, with next May’s remunerations anticipated to vary only slightly.
That caveat done, let’s begin with what the latest season’s eventual league champions can expect to pocket or, to put in simpler terms, what Bayern Munich will get.
Excuse the flippancy but it’s hard not to be when FC Hollywood have topped the pile in 12 of the last 13 seasons, it taking an ‘Invincibles’ campaign from Bayer Leverkusen in 2024 to finally put another name on the honour roll.
Having strengthened again in the summer – including taking Jonathan Tah from Leverkusen that only makes their path clearer – the Bavarian giants are the same price in the football betting to attain a 35th Bundesliga title as it is to back a snowless morning on Christmas Day. Both eventualities are inevitable, or certainly feel it.
Bayern will harvest £66m+ for their relative troubles.
Runner-up
Whichever side finishes best of the rest can look forward to receiving only a touch less, in the region of £65m and here it gets more interesting when determining who that might be.
Last time out Leverkusen defended their crown admirably, but with Xavi Alonso now at the Bernabeu will they remain a force to be reckoned with?
In recent times it has been Borussia Dortmund who have pushed Bayern the most, finishing second eight times in the last 13 years. Having kept their prolific front two of Karim Adeyemi and Serhou Guirassy then Die Schwarzgelben must be fancied to be in the mix once again.
Top eight
As in the Premier League, the four highest finishers qualify for the Champions League though a fifth spot is conceivable depending on circumstances.
That was the case last year, with Bayern, Leverkusen, Dortmund, Stuttgart and RB Leipzig all competing for the continent’s most prestigious prize.
Beyond the elite, the remaining spots down to eighth are typically rewarded with European competition though, just to confuse matters, last season it was seven.
What stands out when assessing the domestic prize ladder in 2024/25 is how marginal the financial gains are for securing a title compared to coming a distant eighth.
Last time out, it was Werder Bremen who just about squeaked that position and, though they accrued 31 fewer points than champions Bayern, and finished much nearer to mid-table than the summit, they still received only £11m less.
Mainz 05 meanwhile defied the pre-season betting by coming sixth. Die Nullfunfer snagged £58.7m for their over-achievement.
Relegated duo
Courtesy of a narrow Play-Off victory, FC Heidenheim escaped the drop last season and that left just Holstein Kiel and VfL Bochum preparing for life in 2.Bundesliga.
For the former it meant their inaugural stay in the Germany top-flight was a short-lived one. Looking at the bigger picture however, a club with a miniscule budget and a stadium that holds only 15,000 are now in receipt of £30.8m.
As for Bochum, the renowned ‘yo-yo club’ can rebuild anew in the second tier, furnished with £27.5m.
