Last weekend, the Kansas City Chiefs beat the San Francisco 49ers at the 58th annual Super Bowl (spoiler alert!) While the 49ers did not walk away with the trophy, they will receive a post-season bonus payment. If you’ve ever fancied becoming a National Football League (NFL) player and wondered how much they can earn as a bonus, then read on!
According to the NFL Players Association’s collective bargaining agreement, players on the winning team earn an extra $164,000 (£130,384) for playing in the Super Bowl. As the winners, each Kansas City Chiefs player, including US singer Taylor Swift’s beau Travis Kelce, will also receive $338,000 (£268,720) in bonus pay. This comprises $50,500 (£40,149) for their wild card win, $50,500 for the divisional round and $73,000 (£58,037) for the conference championship.
Players on the team’s active roster, inactive list or injured reserve at the time of the game are all paid the full amount, while those who have been the team’s roster for less than three games prior to the Super Bowl are only entitled to half.
The losing team don’t do too badly either, as each 49ers player is set to receive a cumulative $263,000 (£209,092) just for their post-season run. They will earn $45,500 (£36,173) for their first-round bye, $50,500 for winning the divisional playoff round and $73,000 for winning the conference championship, while the agreement stipulates players on the losing team can receive $89,000 (£70,757).
To put this in perspective, 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy has a four-year $3.7 million (£2.9 million) contract, with a yearly salary averaging just above $930,000 (£739,377). A winner’s bonus would be nearly 20% of his salary, and the losing bonus would be about 10%.
Furthermore, many NFL players have contract incentives as well as their guaranteed salaries to boost their pay if they meet milestones throughout the season. For example, Cincinnati Bengals running back Joe Mixon scored his 12th touchdown of the season and received a $350,000 (£739,377) bonus.
Considering how dangerous the sport can be, the players definitely need to be appropriately compensated!