How Much Is A Scottish Premiership Title Worth?
A look at SPFL prize money and the subsequent UEFA earnings
This season is shaping up to be one of the most competitive Scottish title races in decades. Several clubs are likely to leave the January transfer window still believing they can be in the title conversation come the post-split fixtures.
Hibernian’s recent run of three consecutive wins, including victory over city rivals and league leaders Hearts, underlines how close the race could be. Sitting fifth and ten points off the summit is obviously a significant gap, but for the purposes of this analysis, any club within ten points of first place will continue to be included.
On the domestic side, the financial reward for winning the Scottish Premiership is straightforward. The champions receive roughly £4.7 million in SPFL prize money, subject to any increase in the 2025/26 distribution pot, alongside custody of the league trophy until no later than three weeks before the end of the following season. It does not matter who lifts the title, the monetary prize for first place is fixed.
However, when it comes to UEFA prizemoney, our European overlords share the same opinion as George Orwell in that “all clubs are equal, but some clubs are more equal than others.”
Both the access list to UEFA’s tournaments and the distribution of funds has slowly but consistently weighted more and more in favour of the big leagues. The leagues at the top of the rankings receive more European places, later entry points with fewer or no qualifying rounds, and substantially higher guaranteed income.
Although each of the 36 clubs in UEFA’s three competitions receives an equal participation payment, €18.62 million in the Champions League, €4.31 million in the Europa League, and €3.17 million in the Conference League, this accounts for only around 40 percent of the total prize pot in each competition.
This is because UEFA rewards historic performance, as much as it rewards performance in the current season. Before a ball is kicked in any of the league phases, 35% of UEFA’s prize pot has already been distributed via the “value pillar”, calculated using:
The value of each associations TV deal with UEFA.
The five-year coefficient of each club.
The ten-year coefficient of each club.
As a result, two clubs entering the same competition at the same stage can receive materially different guaranteed revenues. This is why a Scottish Premiership title is financially worth far more to Celtic or Rangers than it is to Hearts, Hibs, or Motherwell.
Higher coefficient earnings over the last decade translate directly into higher UEFA income. Therefore, the true financial reward of winning the Scottish Premiership - access to UEFA prize money, is not equal for all clubs challenging at the top of the table.
This article will detail how much each club would earn in Europe, as well as which round and competition they’d enter - giving a list of potential opponents in qualifiers.
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