Champions League of South American football is called “Coppa Libertadores” and it takes place every year where club teams from around American continent compete for the biggest prize in South American club football. The tournament is held under the banner of “Conmebol” South American football federation and they announced a total of $168.3 million in total prize money fund which will be distributed among participating nations.
We breakdown the total prize money fund and how it will be distributed starting from early stages of the competitions to the big final.
Copa Libertadores Prize Money distribution System:
2020 Prize Money Pool Confirmed by CONMEBOL: The total prize money fund is distributed on the basis of prize money increasing with every round club progress through. All 32 teams who qualify for group stages get a guaranteed participating fee of $3 million each plus $1 million each for every home game. Qualifying for first knockout stages adds another $1.05 million, qualifying for quarterfinals adds another $1.5 million, for semifinal qualification another $2 million is added.
For the final, prize money hikes big time with losing team in the final pocketing $6 million while the winning team take home as much as $15 million. So potential earnings of a winning club can reach as much as $22 million under the current prize money allocation scheme.
The winning team of course get to play in “FIFA Club World Cup” the following year which opens up another prize money streak. Below is the official prize money breakdown of Coppa Libertadores as revealed by “CONMEBOL”.
| STAGE | PRIZE MONEY |
|---|---|
| Participation Fee | $3 million each for all 32 team teams |
| Group Stage Home match fee | $1 million per every home match in group stage. |
| Qualifying for Round of 16 | $1.05 million each for all 16 teams. |
| Qualifying for quarterfinals. | $1.5 million each for 8 teams |
| Qualifying for semifinals | $2 million each for 4 semifinalists. |
| Runners-up | $6 million |
| Winnings | $15 million |
| Potential earnings for winning team | $22.5 million |
Coppa Libertadores Prize Money History:
The prize money for the competition has been on the steep rise over the last three years. Back in 2018 competition, only $103.8 million was awarded in prize money which saw a massive increase in 2019 where $161.9 million was awarded in prize money. 2020 edition only say 5% increase due to corona virus pandemic. However CONMEBOL is confident once the financial situation sorts itself out they plan to take total prize money fund to over $200 million a year and they hope to achieve that by selling global tv rights for the competition.