A Money Shower in the Premier League: Here Is How Much Prize Money Each Team Earned This Season — Arsenal on Top, Wolves at the Bottom

The English Premier League has once again proven that it is the world's richest football league, not only with its on-pitch competition but also with the enormous revenues it distributes. According to data shared by The Athletic, the league's 20 clubs took a share of between £117.7m and £198.7m from prize and broadcast revenues this season. These figures show that even the bottom team reached an enormous income.

According to The Athletic's table, the total prize revenues the clubs earned this season ranked as follows:

1. Arsenal — £198.7m
2. Manchester City — £192.5m
3. Manchester United — £191.5m
4. Aston Villa — £182.6m
5. Liverpool — £181.8m
6. Bournemouth — £170.5m
7. Sunderland — £168.2m
8. Chelsea — £162.6m
9. Brighton — £161.6m
10. Brentford — £161.5m
11. Fulham — £155.2m
12. Newcastle United — £154.5m
13. Everton — £147.7m
14. Leeds United — £144.5m
15. Crystal Palace — £137.5m
16. Nottingham Forest — £137.1m
17. Tottenham Hotspur — £135.8m
18. West Ham United — £128.6m
19. Burnley — £118.1m
20. Wolves — £117.7m

At the top of the list, as expected, was Arsenal, who finished the season as champions. The London side became the league's top-earning club with revenue of £198.7m. They were followed by Manchester City with £192.5m and Manchester United with £191.5m. This picture shows that the league's traditional big clubs sit at the top of the revenue table not only through sporting success but also through their share of screen time and brand power.

The Premier League's revenue distribution model explains why this ranking does not exactly match the final league standings. A club's revenue is calculated as a combination of the basic broadcast share distributed equally to all teams, merit payments determined by where the team finished, and facility/broadcast fees that depend on how many times their matches were shown live. For this reason, a big club whose matches are broadcast on television many times can earn more than a small club that finished higher in the league.

One of the most striking examples created by this model stands out in the lower part of the list. Tottenham, who had a tough season and escaped the relegation zone at the last moment, placed 17th with £135.8m; in other words, despite being a big club, they took a smaller share of the merit payments due to their poor league finish. In contrast, Sunderland — a newly promoted side — placing 7th with £168.2m became concrete proof of the reward that comes with finishing the season in the upper places.

At the very bottom of the list are Wolves (£117.7m) and Burnley (£118.1m). Even so, these figures show that even the clubs at the lower end of the league reached one of the highest revenues in world football. The gap between Arsenal at the top and Wolves at the bottom reaches £81m; this is an amount that could equal an entire club's budget in other leagues.

This picture also lays bare the scale of the Premier League's financial power. The fact that even a second-from-bottom club earned over £118m proves how big the league's broadcast deals and commercial value are. This revenue distribution stands out as a factor that directly affects the power of English clubs in the transfer market and their position in European competition.

In conclusion, this table shared by The Athletic summarizes why the Premier League is the world's most powerful league in both sporting and financial terms. On the list, where champions Arsenal sit at the top, even the bottom clubs reaching enormous revenues lays bare the scale of the economic power the league provides to all its members.

Source: The Athletic. All revenue figures are based on data shared by The Athletic.