How much money will Hearts get in Europe next season?

Heart of Midlothian will pocket more than £17.5m in prize money should they qualify for the league phase of next season's Champions League.

The Jam Tarts are guaranteed to enter the qualifying rounds of next season's Champions League, and their final finishing place in the Scottish Premiership will determine at what stage they start their campaign.

A top-two finish in Scotland's top flight this season means a place in the qualifying rounds is assured. With one league fixture remaining - against each other - Hearts and Celtic are guaranteed to take those two places.

But whover wins the title will gain a significant advantage.

The two sides meet on the final day of the season at Celtic Park. Avoiding defeat in that final match would mean Hearts win their first league title since 1960. Celtic, on the other hand, need to win to clinch a fifth straight title.

Winning the Premiership will mean entering the final round of qualifying, known as the play-off qualifying round.

However, a second-place finish would mean entering the second of the four qualifying rounds.

The relative financial implications for each outcome will be very different for both clubs. Celtic posted a club record 2024-25 season turnover of £143.6m, while Hearts' was a fraction of that at £24.4m for the same season.

Here is an explanation of how much is at stake for Hearts and Celtic financially, how qualifying works, and the differences in finances between the possible outcomes across qualifying in July and August.

Uefa's three main annual club competitions have four qualifying rounds, with teams from each nation entering at various points.

For Scottish clubs, there are five European places available heading into next season. However, none of those earn direct qualification into any of the Champions League, Europa League and Conference League.

For whichever of Celtic and Hearts finish second, their qualification campaign will begin in July's second qualifying round.

For every two-leg victory in qualifying, a team progresses into the next round. This process continues until the fourth and final qualifying round. Another win there seals a place in the league phase of next season's Champions League.

But defeat in any Champions League qualifying round would mean dropping down to a lower-ranked competition.

Defeat in the Champions League's second qualifying round would mean Hearts or Celtic would drop to the third round of qualifying in the Europa League.

Winning the final two rounds of qualifying for the Europa League would book a place in the league phase of that competition. However, defeat in either round would involve a drop down to the Conference League.

A third-round Europa League qualifying exit for Hearts or Celtic would mean that either side would still have to play one more qualifying game in the Conference League to reach the league phase. However, reaching the Europa League play-off qualifying round and then losing would earn a direct place in the Conference League.

Should the side entering the Champions League second qualifying round advance to the third qualifying round and then lose, they would actually earn direct qualification into the league phase of the Europa League and not have to play a play-off qualifying round match.

Qualifying for Champions League will earn Hearts and/or Celtic just north of €20.2m (£17.5m), should they reach the league phase.

The majority of that money is the entry fee, but there are further fees included such as television revenue and share for the league position.

That fee can jump up significantly in a few ways. Every victory in the league phase is worth €2.1m (£1.8m), with each draw worth €700k (£600k).

That initial €20.2m includes more than €1.3m (£1.1m) in television money that is given to the lowest-ranked club by Uefa in their value pillar, combining each nation and team's ranking to effectively decide which teams are the most attractive to television audiences.

The highest-ranked team in the value pillar can earn up to €46.8m (£40.6m) in league phase television money alone, so clubs will hope to be ranked as high as possible commercially to reap the financial benefits.

Where a team finishes in the league phase also plays a major role in terms of revenue.

Bottom place of the 36 league phase teams will earn €275,000 (£238,000). Every position above that is an increase of €275,000 per position.

A finish in the top 24 and reaching later rounds also earns significantly higher amounts of money.

On top of that, there is also €175,000 (£151,500) offered for every round of Champions League qualifying played, which could rise to €525,000 (£455,000) should a team qualify for the Champions League after entering in the second round of qualifying.

Financially, there is still plenty of money up for grabs for qualifying for the Europa League.

At minimum, it is €4.68m (£4.06m) for qualifying for the league phase. That significantly rises to €8.97m (£7.77m) for anyone who qualifies for the league phase as a result of losing in the play-off round of Champions League qualifying.

Like the Champions League, there are incremental increases on top of that for league position and television revenue.

The minimum television revenue is €297,000 (£257,000) and the maximum is just under €10.7m (£9.3m).

There is also financial perks for every win and draw in the league phase, with €450,000 (£390,000) on offer for each win and €150,000 (£130,000) per draw.

Each league position is worth €75,000 (£65,000). There is an extra €175,000 given to a side that loses in the third round of Europa League qualifying, as well as an extra €350,000 (£303,000) given to a side reaching the Europa League as a result of winning the play-off round.

Finally, while it is Uefa's third and lowest tier of European club competition, there is still good money involved for teams who do qualify for the Conference League.

For reaching the Conference League's league phase, there is a minimum of €3.17m (£2.75m) in prize money, television revenue and performance money.

There is a pool of €28,000 (£24,000) for each league position and a minimum of €89,000 in television revenue and a maximum of €3.2m (£2.8m).

Each match in the league phase is worth €400,000 (£346,000) for each win and €133,000 (£115,000) for each draw.

For the team that finish second in the Premiership, there is also the possibility of losing qualifying matches in the Champions League, Europa League and Conference League and failing to qualify for the league phase of any competition.

In this instance, Hearts or Celtic would be awarded €750,000 (£650,000) in prize money for exiting at that stage and an additional €525,000 for featuring in three different qualifying rounds.

This article is the latest from BBC Sport's Ask Me Anything team.