Compared with previous years, there will be significantly less prize money at stake when Chelsea and Leicester City meet in the 2021 FA Cup final.
Chelsea and Leicester City meet at Wembley Stadium in the 2021 FA Cup final on Saturday (12:15 pm EDT), in what will be the 140th edition of the showpiece occasion.
Leicester chasing first FA Cup win, Chelsea seek ninth triumph
Leicester, who saw off Southampton in the semi-finals, will be making their first appearance in the FA Cup final since 1969 - and will be out to make it fifth time lucky in the fixture.
The Foxes have lost all four of their previous finals: to Wolves in 1949, Tottenham in 1961, Manchester United in 1963 and Manchester City in 1969.
Chelsea, on the other hand, will be featuring in their 15th FA Cup final and will lift the trophy for the ninth time in their history if they beat Leicester. Together with Spurs, they are the tournament’s joint-third-most successful club, behind Arsenal (14 FA Cup wins) and Manchester United (12).
Thomas Tuchel’s men reached the final by beating Manchester City, a side they are also due to face in the Champions League final in Porto on 29 May.
How much prize money do the FA Cup winners get?
According to figures released by the Football Association (FA), the winners of the 2020/21 FA Cup final will get £1.8m (about $2.5m), while the runners-up will walk away with £900,000.
Taking into account prize money accumulated from the five previous rounds of this season’s FA Cup - Premier League clubs enter the competition in the third round - Saturday's winners will have earned a total of just over £3.3m (approximately $4.7m), while the losers will have netted a little over £2.4m ($3.4m)
FA Cup prize fund significantly slashed this year
This year’s prize fund represents a major decrease on last season: Arsenal picked up £3.6m (about $5m) for their 2020 FA Cup final triumph over Chelsea, while the Blues took home £1.8m from the fixture, the same as this season’s victors.
In its entirety, the Gunners’ 2019/20 FA Cup campaign earned them just under £6.8m.
Coronavirus crisis behind drop in prize money, says FA
"After two seasons of record levels of prize funds, the Emirates FA Cup prize fund has returned back in line with 2017-18 levels due to the financial impact of the COVID-19 pandemic," the FA said in August 2020.
Source: m.allfootballapp.com