Football
18th May 2025
FA Cup 2025/26 Prize Money (Confirmed)
English football is the most lucrative of all european counterparts. Teams in English top division are making mimium of £100 million regardless where they finish in the league. Thanks of massive TV rights deal signed by Premier League both domesticly and internationally. However, domestic cup competitions like FA Cup and League Cup are not as lucrative for Premier League sides considering Crystal Palace will only get £2 million for winning the FA Cup in 2025. That is one of the reason's top clubs from Premier League do not take these cup competitions seriously. We breakdown the entire FA Cup prize money fund and how it is distributed among around 1000 teams in English football pyramid. There are two types of payments generated for English clubs in FA Cup.
1). FA Cup Prize Money Fund:
The total prize money fund is announced before the FA Cup begins every year and for 2025 a total of £20.3 million was announed by English FA which will be distributed among teams from first Preliminary round to the final depending on which round they finish. A total of around £2 million will be distributed among teams in Preliminary & Qualifying Rounds. Rest of the £18 million will be distributed among teams from Round 1 proper to the final.
2). FA Cup Gate Receipts:
For every match the home and away teams split the gate reciept money by 40/40 percentage while 10% goes to English FA for administration cost. This is probably the most lucrative money for lower league clubs if they are drawn against one of the heavyweights of english football away. For example if League 2 club play Manchester United at Old Trafford the gate reciept for that one match can be around £2 million and league 2 club can take home as much as £800,000 for just playing at Old Trafford.
FA Cup Prize Money Distribution:
£20.3 million is distributed among all partcipating teams from Round 1 to the final. Below is the breakdown how much winners and losing teams earn in each FA Cup round.
Preliminary Rounds & Qualifying Rounds:
| Round | Prize Money (Each Club) | TOTAL POOL |
| 1st Preliminary Round Winners (208 teams) | £1,125 | £234,000 |
| 1st Preliminary Round Losers (208 teams) | £375 | £78,000 |
| Preliminary Round Winners (136 teams) | £1,445 | £196,000 |
| Preliminary Round Losers (136 teams) | £480 | £65,000 |
| 1st Qualifying Round Winners (112 teams) | £2,250 | £252,000 |
| 1st Qualifying Round Losers (112 teams) | £750 | £84,000 |
| 2nd Qualifying Round Winners (80 teams) | £3,375 | £270,000 |
| 2nd Qualifying Round Winners (80 teams) | £1,125 | £90,000 |
| 3rd Qualifying Round Winners (40 teams) | £5,600 | £224,000 |
| 3rd Qualifying Round Losers (40 teams) | £1,900 | £76,000 |
| 4th Qualifying Round Winners (32 teams) | £9,300 | £297,000 |
| 4th Qualifying Round Winners (32 teams) | £3,100 | £100,000 |
Once the preliminary and qualifying rounds are completed FA Cup is move to Proper Tournament where teams from Championshop and Top division are also drawn. A total of £18.3 million is allocated as prize money for teams from Round 1 to the final. Below is the breakdown of each round and how much every team will get.
| Round | Prize Money (Each Club) | TOTAL POOL |
| Round 1 Winners (40 teams) | £45,000 | |
| Round 1 Losers (40 teams) | £15,000 | |
| Round 2 Winners (20 teams) | £75,000 | |
| Round 2 Losers (20 teams) | £20,000 | |
| Round 3 Winners (32 teams) | £115,000 | |
| Round 3 Losers (32 teams) | £25,000 | |
| Fourth Round Winners (16 teams) | £120,000 | |
| Fifth Round Winners (8 Teams) | £225,000 | |
| Quarterfinals Winners (4 teams) | £450,000 | |
| Semifinal Winners (2 teams) | £1 million | |
| Semifinal Losers (2 teams) | £500,000 | |
| Runners-Up | £1 million | |
| FA Cup Winners | £2 million |
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