How Much Will the 2025 Ballon d'Or Winner Earn? The Candidates, From Dembélé to Mbappé

But how much do the Ballon d'Or candidates win ? The simplest and most straightforward answer is: they don't win anything. There's no prize money involved. There's never been any money up for grabs for this award, and the same goes for the 2025 edition. There's money in football, indeed, but the awards are still "old-fashioned."

As mentioned, however, this is the simplest answer. If you're interested, below you'll find all the earnings of the last five winners, derived from this very award. Simply put, if Dembélé is indeed the 2025 Ballon d'Or winner, as many expect, here's how much he'll earn.

How much does a Ballon d'Or winner earn?

As mentioned, the organization doesn't expect any direct income for the Ballon d'Or winner. However, it's a prestigious award that guarantees popularity and market interest.

It is therefore easy to demonstrate how first place leads to a favorable renegotiation of one's contract, as well as to a very profitable sale, with an adequate increase in the player's salary.

As if that weren't enough, there's also room for sponsors . It's been said over and over again, for 20 years now, that footballers are veritable businesses. It's therefore no surprise that their private contracts are seeing a financial boost, given the media exposure.

Finally, in some cases, the agreement signed with a club also includes a specific clause. If a player is nominated for the Ballon d'Or and/or wins, the club will award a cash prize .

Ballon d'Or 2025: How much does he earn?

The clear favorite for the 2025 Ballon d'Or is Ousmane Dembélé, whose private agreements with PSG, as well as with his various sponsors, are unknown. However, we can go back and reveal the indirect earnings of his predecessors.

Ballon d'Or Winner	Year	How much did he earn?
Rodri (Spain, Manchester City)	2024	Regardless of his sponsors, the Ballon d'Or winner has prompted discussions about his contract renewal, which could last until 2029, with a pay rise to 300,000 pounds a week.
Lionel Messi (Argentina, Inter Miami)	2023	After his triumph in 2023, he signed a lucrative contract with Inter Miami worth $12 million a year, rising to $20 million with all applicable bonuses. Taking into account commercial revenue from merchandising and streaming, as well as an equity stake in the club, the deal is worth around $130-150 million.
Karim Benzema (France, Real Madrid)	2022	The year after winning the Ballon d'Or, Benzema signed a very lucrative contract with Al-Ittihad (Saudi Pro League), guaranteeing himself 50 million euros a year.
Lionel Messi (Argentina, Paris Saint-Germain)	2021	After winning yet another Ballon d'Or, he continued to earn huge sums from his many sponsors. Worthy of note is the deal with Socios, which guaranteed him $20 million for the 2021-22 period.
Prize not awarded	2020
Lionel Messi (Argentina, Barcelona)	2019	In 2019, he was listed as the world's highest-paid athlete for the first time, with total earnings of $127 million.

Ballon d'Or 2025: the candidates

Candidates	National	Club
Jude Bellingham	England	real Madrid
Ousmane Dembélé	France	PSG
Gianluigi Donnarumma	Italy	Manchester City
Désiré Doué	France	PSG
Denzel Dumfries	Netherlands	Inter
Serhou Guirassy	Guinea	Borussia Dortmund
Viktor Gyökeres	Sweden	Arsenal
Erling Haaland	Norway	Manchester City
Achraf Hakimi	Morocco	PSG
Harry Kane	England	Bayern Munich
Khvicha Kvaratskhelia	Georgia	PSG
Robert Lewandowski	Poland	Barcelona
Alexis Mac Allister	Argentina	Liverpool
Lautaro Martinez	Argentina	Inter
Kylian Mbappé	France	real Madrid
Scott McTominay	Scotland	Naples
Nuno Mendes	Portugal	PSG
Joao Neves	Portugal	PSG
Michael Olise	France	Bayern Munich
Cole Palmer	England	Chelsea
Pedri	Spain	Barcelona
Raphinha	Brazil	Barcelona
Declan Rice	England	Arsenal
Fabián Ruiz	Spain	PSG
Mohamed Salah	Egypt	Liverpool
Virgil van Dijk	Netherlands	Liverpool
Vinicius Junior	Brazil	real Madrid
Vitinha	Portugal	PSG
Florian Wirtz	Germany	Liverpool
Yamal sheets	Spain	Barcelona