The Ballon d’Or is one of the most coveted awards not just in global football but in all of world sports.
Given to the top football player across the previous year, the “Golden Ball” is known as the highest individual honor there is in the sport.
With Ballon d’Or icons Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo now in the twilight of their careers, the annual race for the award has opened back up into a full-blown debate. Players from all across Europe are hoping to be named as this year’s winner, catapulting their careers into legendary status.
The Sporting News explains the cash value of winning the Ballon d’Or, which can be more difficult to pin down than one might imagine.
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How much prize money comes with the Ballon d’Or?
As of 2025, there is no prize money attached to winning the Ballon d’Or.
Award organizers France Football have not put together a cash prize to go along with the Ballon d’Or win, as the trophy is coveted enough in global football that it does not need any financial incentives to accompany it.
However, that’s not the end of the line. Many players have clauses in their club contracts that give them bonus payouts for certain achievements, and the Ballon d’Or is often part of this list of bonuses.
Contractual bonuses can vary greatly, from goal bonuses to statistical milestones to various trophies and honors. Even being named amongst the 30 nominees could come with a financial payout if that is part of their bonus list. Thus, players may directly earn a payout for winning the Ballon d’Or should they have it in their contract.
Even beyond that, winning the Ballon d’Or itself is worth a significant amount of money to a player’s career in a number of different ways without requiring a pure payout along with it.
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How much is winning the Ballon d’Or worth?
Even without a cash prize attached directly to winning the award, a Ballon d’Or can be worth an exceptional amount of money to a player.
As mentioned earlier, many players would earn a direct cash bonus from the award thanks to clauses in their club contracts. However, the windfall from a Ballon d’Or victory goes much further than that.
There are significant endorsement opportunities that open up to Ballon d’Or winners that can bring significant financial reward along with it. Memorabilia arrangements will no doubt be made to commemorate the moment, while future deals for that player will theoretically skyrocket in value.
In reality, however, it’s a bit of an unknown at the moment what the future for a Ballon d’Or winner looks like. For much of the past 15 years, there have only been two players who have dominated the Ballon d’Or voting tally. Only twice from 2008 to 2023 did a player not named Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo win the trophy, and 2024 was the first time since 2003 where neither legend was among the nominees.
Even Rodri’s victory in 2024 gave us little information on what the modern age is like for a Ballon d’Or winner, since a torn ACL left him shelved for the entirety of the following season.
Many of the finalists for the 2025 award are already superstars with a laundry list of endorsement deals, and it’s unclear whether a Ballon d’Or would put them into a further category of earning power.
