How Much Will 2025 ‘American Idol’ Winner Receive Compared to Carrie Underwood in 2005?

When Carrie Underwood won “American Idol” at age 22, she went from taking her first flight to compete in Hollywood to gaining access to her own private jet as the champ. That was one of the valuable prizes she won in 2005, but whoever wins the title in 2025 won’t be quite as lucky.

Prizes for “American Idol” winners were once heavily publicized in the show’s early years on FOX, from cash to cars, but ABC now keeps most prize details under wraps. However, leaked contracts and insider reports in recent years indicate that modern-day winners have received significantly less than Underwood did.

Carrie Underwood Still Has the Blue Mustang She Won 20 Years Ago

When Underwood beat Bo Bice to become the season four “American Idol” winner, she was awarded a $1 million recording contract and “access to a private jet” for a year, according to People. In addition, she and Bice both received new Ford Mustangs.

It’s not clear how much of Underwood’s winnings went directly to her bank account, but her “Idol” record deal resulted in her first album, released in late 2005. “Some Hearts” became the best-selling solo debut album by a female artist in country music history, according to Us Weekly. It included hits like “Jesus, Take the Wheel” and “Before He Cheats.”

In 2022, Underwood informed Kelleigh Bannen on “Today’s Country Radio” that she still had her “Idol” Mustang, per Audacy.

“I do still have the car that I won when I won ‘American Idol,'” she said at the time. “I have my blue Mustang, and every once in a while something will happen where I’ll have my car getting serviced or whatever, and I’ll get to drive that car.”

“It always makes me want to drive it more, because it was such a pivotal point in my life,” she continued. “That was the car that I was driving around when I first moved to Tennessee, and I’m very, very glad I still have that car. Every time I get in it, I’m always like, ‘Why don’t I just drive this more often?” She concluded “It makes me feel good.”

There’s a good chance “Idol” viewers will get to see that car during season 23. In October, bystanders posted videos on social media, like the one above, of Underwood driving her blue Mustang in downtown Nashville with her new “Idol” castmates — Lionel Richie, Luke Bryan and host Ryan Seacrest — as cameras filmed them for the show.

What Will the 2025 ‘American Idol’ Winner Receive?

ABC

The winner of “American Idol” in 2025 will likely receive a sizeable cash prize and the option to sign a development deal with 19 Recordings, the show’s record label partner. ABC executives remain tight-lipped about exact details, but Newsweek reported in 2021 that the winner would receive $125,000 upon signing a record contract and another $125,000 when the album is completed.

Though record deals were a given for “Idol” winners for many years, 19 Recordings SVP Elissa Felman told Billboard in 2021 that there would no longer be guaranteed record deals for “Idol” winners. Instead, they planned to offer them development deals to help them craft their identity as an artist, gain more experience on the road, and work on new music. After that, she said, the company would decide whether a full record deal was appropriate.

2024 winner Abi Carter did not sign with 19 Recordings, preferring instead to develop her own sound and team as an independent artist. But she told EntertainmentNOW in March 2025 that her prize winnings covered the cost of her first album, “Ghosts in the Backyard.”

“You know, paying for producers and masters and mixers and just paying for everything around that is very expensive,” she noted, adding that while she isn’t opposed to one day signing with a label, she’s seen enough artists regret not owning their early masters that she wanted “to see what it was like to own my own music.”

Carter and season 22 runner-up Will Moseley didn’t receive cars or the use of a private jet like Underwood, but they did both win Disney cruises to the Bahamas for themselves and three guests. Moseley, meanwhile, did sign with 19 Recordings and will release his next single on March 28.