When you talk about top-tier football, money always comes up. A recent study by Sportingpedia shines a spotlight on just how big those numbers really are. Looking at the seven biggest leagues in Europe for the 2025/26 season, one league stands head and shoulders above the rest in terms of payroll.
That would be England’s Premier League. They are set to shell out a staggering 2.41 billion euros for player salaries. To put that into perspective, the Spanish La Liga, which comes in second, will spend 1.44 billion euros. That means the Premier League’s salary bill is a whopping 65 percent higher than La Liga’s. It’s truly a different league, financially speaking.
Now, let’s bring it closer to home for some. Portugal’s Liga Portugal finds itself in the sixth spot on this list. Their total investment in player salaries adds up to 214 million euros. That’s a significant sum, but it tells a story when compared to the giants.
Take Real Madrid, for instance. This single club is projected to spend 305.4 million euros on salaries. That figure alone is more than the entire Liga Portugal budget. It’s a stark reminder of the financial gulf in European football. To further illustrate, compare Real Madrid’s spending to the top Portuguese clubs: Benfica is at 42.4 million, Sporting at 32.7 million, and FC Porto at 30.9 million. Real Madrid isn’t just ahead; they’re in a completely different zip code. The numbers don’t lie about where the major cash flows in the beautiful game.