The FA Cup, in its 141st edition since its inception in 1871, is one of the major competitions on the English football calendar and the oldest domestic knockout competition in the world.
The tournament is open to all clubs in the top 10 tiers of the sport in England, with 124 teams participating in the first round, including all 92 from the top four tiers of the professional game. We’re now into the third round of the 2021-22 FA Cup which is set to kick off on the weekend of Friday, Jan. 7 with Premier League and Championship teams entering the fray.
Given the long tradition of the competition, merely hoisting the FA Cup trophy represents a career achievement for most players. The automatic berth into the following season’s Europa League group stage is an added bonus.
But there is also significant prize money up for grabs for the tournament winner. Here’s the breakdown of the cash at stake for the clubs in the competition.
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FA Cup prize money in 2022
A Premier League team that enters in the third round and goes on to win the FA Cup would net that club a total of $4,625,000. Quite the boon.
The big money comes from just making the final, with teams paid out first for winning their semifinal and then again whether they win or lose the final. So a semifinal victory guarantees a double payday no matter the result of title match.
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Below is the full breakdown of prize money per round for men’s clubs, according to the FA’s official release .
These payments are the same as last season’s total, and down from the 2019-20 edition of the tournament which saw the final winners net $4,800,000 just for victory at Wembley. The FA explained in 2020 that the prize values were dropping due to the financial impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Breakdown of FA Cup win bonuses in 2022
| Round | Receiving Clubs | Payout per club |
|---|---|---|
| 1st Round winners | 40 | $30,000 |
| 2nd Round winners | 20 | $46,000 |
| 3rd Round winners | 32 | $111,000 |
| 4th Round winners | 16 | $122,000 |
| 5th Round winners | 8 | $244,000 |
| Quarterfinal winners | 4 | $488,000 |
| Semifinal losers | 2 | $610,000 |
| Semifinal winners | 2 | $1,220,000 |
| Runner-up | 1 | $1,220,000 |
| Champion | 1 | $2,440,000 |
FA Cup gate receipts and ticket revenue split
The official 2021-22 FA Cup tournament rules account for how ticket revenue is split between clubs. The big ticket payday for matches is not just enjoyed by the home team that is drawn to serve as host.
The Football Association requires both clubs participating in a match to split the net ticket revenue evenly through to the quarterfinals. The only time this 50-50 split changes is when a club outside the Premier League or Football League (Championship, League One, League Two) plays against a club hailing from the top four tiers. In that case the split is 55-45 favoring the team outside the top four divisions.
When it comes to the semifinals and final, typically held at London’s Wembley Stadium, these events are handled differently.
Participating clubs don’t get a share of any gate receipts for the FA Cup final, but they do get a share of the semifinal ticket sales:
- the first 5.5% of the net receipts from the semis are claimed by the FA for distribution to affiliated associations;
- then the four semifinalist clubs evenly split up 58.5% of what’s left.