Heart of Midlothian raked in almost £4million through television revenue and prize money for the 2023/24 season – the fourth-largest sum of any Scottish club.

The figures for all 42 SPFL clubs were estimated on Twitter by the SPFL Mediawatch account (a dependable and reliable source), and they show how much money each team made for their performances in the league, the domestic cups and in Europe.

The vast majority of Hearts’ £3,930,450 total income was awarded for the team’s third-place finish in the Premiership, with the Gorgie club receiving £2,630,450 for the final league standing.

Steven Naismith’s side reached the semi-finals of the League and Scottish Cups last term, bringing in nearly half a million pounds of revenue. Two of Hearts’ League Cup games (Rangers and Kilmarnock) were broadcast on Viaplay, while all four Scottish Cup games (The Spartans, Airdrieonians, Greenock Morton and Rangers) were shown live. The first three matches listed were shown on the BBC, while the semi-final was on Viaplay.

Hearts received £174,000 in TV and prize money in the League Cup – only Rangers and Aberdeen, the two finalists, brought in more – and £309,000 for reaching the Scottish Cup semi-final. Again, only the two finalists, Celtic and Rangers, made more money from the Scottish Cup.

The vast majority of the Old Firm’s TV and prize money came from playing in Europe. Aberdeen’s third-place finish in 2022/23 meant the Dons were guaranteed European group-stage football. After losing out to BK Hacken in the Europa League play-off, they dropped into the Conference League where they played an additional six matches.

READ MORE: Hearts in Europe: Finances, opponents, and why Conference League could be best

Aberdeen raised £4,187,942 in TV revenue and prize money from their eight European fixtures last season; a figure that dwarfs the £817,000 Hearts received for reaching the play-off round of the Conference League. Hibernian, who entered qualifying in the round before Hearts and thus played an additional two games, brought in £903,000 before being knocked out by Aston Villa.

The TV income and prize money underlines the gap between Glasgow’s big two and the rest. Hearts’ revenue in this respect represents a ninth of what Celtic received, or a sixth of what Rangers raked in. Aberdeen earned more from their European involvement than Hearts did in total. But, next season, it is the Gorgie club who can look forward to a minimum of eight European games – and the financial windfall that comes with them.