I often get asked about how much NFL players earn during the playoffs. Here's the lowdown: Players don’t get paid their salaries for the postseason, though they do get bonuses for each round.
Since the Rams and Patriots both had a bye week, the players did not make any money during wild-card weekend, but they did pull in $29,000 for the Divisional Round and $54,000 for the Conference Championship Round.
So leading up to this game, players on both teams have made $83,000. But the Super Bowl, for all of its glitz and glamour, is shockingly paltry.
The players on the losing Super Bowl team will make $59,000, while the winners get $118,000 for a full share. (Only those who have been on the team the whole season receive a full share.)
Consider this: Players on the winning team for Super Bowl I got paid $15,000 in 1967. Factoring for inflation that’s $112,000 today.
So while the NFL’s revenues have grown a gazillion percent over the past 52 years, the prize for the title game winner has only gone up 5.3%.
If you're curious, here's the rundown of what the winning team in the Super Bowl has made each year (numbers not adjusted for inflation; the year listed is the year the game was played):
- 1967-1977: $15,000
- 1978-1982: $18,000
- 1983-1993: $36,000
- 1995-1996: $42,000
- 1997-1998: $48,000
- 1999: $53,000
- 2000-2001: $58,000
- 2002-2003: $63,000
- 2004-2005: $68,000
- 2006: $73,000
- 2007-2009: $78,000
- 2010-2011: $83,000
- 2012-2013: $88,000
- 2014: $92,000
- 2015-2016: $97,000
- 2017: $107,000
- 2018: $112,000
- 2019: $118,000
