Patryk Stachowiak
The 2026 EuroLeague Final Four prize money represents the biggest payout in the competition’s history. When the Championship Game tips off at Telekom Center Athens on May 24, the winning club will pocket €2.4 million — a figure that tells its own story about how far European club basketball has traveled financially in just twelve months.
Last season’s champions, Fenerbahçe Beko, received €1.8 million for winning the title. The runners-up, AS Monaco, took home €1 million. Compare that to the current structure and the scale of the increase becomes clear: the champion’s prize has grown by €600,000, and the runner-up figure has more than doubled. That is not a routine cost-of-living adjustment. That is a deliberate statement about where EuroLeague Basketball sees the competition heading.
How the Prize Money Is Structured
The total prize fund covers the top 16 finishers only. Any club that ends the season in 17th place or lower receives nothing. That cutoff creates real financial stakes throughout the regular season, not just at the playoff stage.
The four Final Four participants — the two semifinal winners and the two semifinal losers — collect the largest individual sums. Below them, the payouts step down steadily through the playoff eliminations, the Play-In results, and the regular season standings.
The four clubs still competing in Athens are Olympiacos, Fenerbahçe Beko, Valencia Basket, and Real Madrid. None of them know yet whether they will finish first, second, third, or fourth. What they do know is that every position between those four carries a difference of €300,000.
Complete EuroLeague Prize Money Table for the 2025-26 Season
Below is the full prize money breakdown for all 16 ranked teams in the 2025-26 EuroLeague season.
| Position | Team | Prize Money |
|---|---|---|
| Champions | TBD | €2,400,000 |
| Runner-up | TBD | €2,100,000 |
| 3rd place | TBD | €1,800,000 |
| 4th place | TBD | €1,500,000 |
| 5th place | Panathinaikos AKTOR | €1,200,000 |
| 6th place | Hapoel IBI Tel Aviv | €1,050,000 |
| 7th place | Žalgiris | €900,000 |
| 8th place | Monaco | €750,000 |
| 9th place | Barcelona | €675,000 |
| 10th place | Crvena Zvezda | €600,000 |
| 11th place | Dubai | €525,000 |
| 12th place | Maccabi | €450,000 |
| 13th place | Bayern | €375,000 |
| 14th place | Olimpia Milan | €300,000 |
| 15th place | Partizan | €225,000 |
| 16th place | Paris Basketball | €150,000 |
What the Increase Means in Practice
The jump from last season’s figures is worth sitting with for a moment. Fenerbahçe won the 2024-25 title and earned €1.8 million. This year’s champion will earn that same amount for finishing third. The runner-up prize has grown from €1 million to €2.1 million. Even fourth place now pays €1.5 million.
For the clubs outside the Final Four, the increases are proportionally meaningful too. Panathinaikos, eliminated in fifth place, will collect €1.2 million. That is real operating money for a roster, not a consolation figure.
The bottom of the table tells a different story. Paris Basketball, finishing 16th, takes home €150,000. A club’s entire season of EuroLeague competition, the travel, the scheduling disruption, the squad depth required — and the minimum prize money payout barely covers a month of one mid-tier player’s salary. The financial structure of European basketball remains steep.
The Fines Factor: Crvena Zvezda’s Net Return
Raw prize money figures do not always reflect what a club actually receives. Crvena Zvezda finished 10th and earned €600,000 in prize money. However, the Serbian club also accumulated fines totaling €143,500 during the season. Subtract one from the other and the net return drops to approximately €456,500 — closer to what a 12th-place finish would have paid before deductions.
It is a reminder that the prize money table shows gross figures. Disciplinary costs, administrative penalties, and other deductions are applied separately, and for clubs that accumulate significant fines over a long season, the gap between the headline number and the actual payment can be substantial.
What Is at Stake in Athens
The four semifinalists already know their minimum earnings. Even the club that loses in the semifinals and finishes fourth walks away with €1.5 million. But the difference between winning the title and finishing as runner-up is €300,000, and the gap between second and third is the same. Every game in Athens carries a direct, calculable financial outcome alongside the sporting stakes.
Olympiacos face Fenerbahçe Beko in Semifinal A on May 22 at 17:00 CEST. Valencia Basket face Real Madrid in Semifinal B at 20:00 CEST the same evening. The Championship Game follows on May 24 at 20:00 CEST, also at Telekom Center Athens.
Fenerbahçe are in a position many clubs would find disorienting: they defended their title all the way to the Final Four, yet they enter the weekend on the wrong side of history’s biggest prize money increase. Last year’s €1.8 million for winning it all now buys you a third-place finish. Whether that fact motivates or unsettles a squad is something coaches and psychologists argue about. Either way, the money on the table in Athens this weekend is unlike anything the competition has offered before.
Year-on-Year Comparison: 2024-25 vs 2025-26
To put the increase in sharp relief, here is how the top four positions compare across the two most recent seasons.
- Champions: €1,800,000 in 2024-25 — up to €2,400,000 in 2025-26 (+€600,000)
- Runner-up: €1,000,000 in 2024-25 — up to €2,100,000 in 2025-26 (+€1,100,000)
- 3rd place: Not publicly confirmed for 2024-25 — €1,800,000 in 2025-26
- 4th place: Not publicly confirmed for 2024-25 — €1,500,000 in 2025-26
The runner-up increase is the number that stands out most. A club that reaches the Championship Game and loses will earn more than double what last season’s finalist received. That recalibration reflects EuroLeague Basketball’s ambition to make its top prize genuinely competitive with the upper tier of European sports payouts.
FAQ
How much does the 2026 EuroLeague champion earn?
The 2026 EuroLeague champion will receive €2,400,000 in prize money.
How much does the runner-up receive at the 2026 EuroLeague Final Four?
The runner-up earns €2,100,000, more than double the €1,000,000 paid to last season’s finalist, AS Monaco.
What do third and fourth place earn at the Final Four?
Third place receives €1,800,000 and fourth place receives €1,500,000. Notably, both figures exceed what the 2024-25 champions earned for winning the title outright.
Which teams are competing at the 2026 EuroLeague Final Four?
Olympiacos face Fenerbahçe Beko in Semifinal A, and Valencia Basket face Real Madrid in Semifinal B. Both semifinals take place on May 22 at Telekom Center Athens.
How many teams receive EuroLeague prize money?
Only the top 16 finishers receive prize money. Clubs finishing 17th or lower are not eligible for any payment from the prize fund.
What is the minimum EuroLeague prize money in 2025-26?
The minimum payout goes to the 16th-placed team, Paris Basketball, who receive €150,000.
Does prize money get reduced by fines?
Yes. Disciplinary fines are deducted from a club’s prize money. Crvena Zvezda, for example, earned €600,000 in prize money but incurred €143,500 in fines, reducing their effective return to approximately €456,500.
How does this year’s prize money compare to last season?
The champion’s prize increased from €1,800,000 to €2,400,000. The runner-up figure more than doubled, rising from €1,000,000 to €2,100,000. It is the largest single-season increase in the competition’s history.
When is the 2026 EuroLeague Championship Game?
The Championship Game takes place on Sunday, May 24, 2026, at 20:00 CEST at Telekom Center Athens in Marousi, Greece.