WASHINGTON — Super Bowl ads may cost a lot of money to run, but Super Bowl champions bring home even more. While hoisting up the Vince Lombardi Trophy is every NFL player's dream, athletes on both the Kansas City Chiefs and the San Francisco 49ers will be bringing home lots of money after Sunday's game.
So just how much money are we talking about?
Players on the winning team of Sunday's big game in Miami will take home $124,000 each just for participating, according to the collecting bargaining agreement between the NFL and the NFLPA. The agreement specifies just how much each winner and loser will make in each playoff round.
But losing players don't walk away with nothing-- they each take home half at $62,000.
Similiar the World Series, the Super Bowl allocates more money in a tiered structure: the Wild Card game, the Divisional Playoff Game, the Conference Championship game and then the Super Bowl. The more games you win and the further you advance into playoffs, the larger the pool of money is to divide up.
Here's a breakdown from the collecting bargaining agreement the NFL set up, showing the payout each year since 2011. The 2020 number would correlate to next year's season that starts in 2020.
But don't players already make a salary anyway?
While athletes in the NFL typically have high-dollar contracts during the regular season, playoff money comes from the league pool rather than from individual teams. This means that while players are still making money, their usual 17-week regular season salary doesn't take effect during the playoffs.
Does every single player take home money?
The answer: no. The NFL has requirements for players who are deemed eligible for playoff payout.
Players on the 53-man roster and those on injured reserve at game time get paid out for Divisional Playoff games and Wild Card games. The Super Bowl is even more complicated with eligibility -- only players on the 53-man roster for the last three games get to take home the full payment. If you haven't been on that roster for the last three games, you get to take home half.
There are some exceptions to that rule.
For example, if you are a veteran player injured during the regular season and removed from the team's active or inactive list for the Super Bowl, you will still receive a full amount. But if you're a rookie who was injured during the regular season and isn't on that roster for the Super Bowl game, you'd get half, according to that collective bargaining agreement.
Athletes on the practice squad do not get paid out for the post-season share, instead of getting paid salary every week their team remains in the playoffs.
So no matter the outcome of Sunday's game, players can get a little expected financial boost.
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