how much do super bowl players get paid
NFL players in the Super Bowl get a fixed league-paid bonus that depends on whether they win or lose, separate from their regular salary and endorsements.
Quick Scoop: How much do Super Bowl players get paid?
Super Bowl 2026 (Super Bowl 60)
- Super Bowl winner’s bonus per player: $178,000.
- Super Bowl loser’s bonus per player: $103,000.
- These amounts are set by the NFL’s Collective Bargaining Agreement and rise a bit each year through 2030.
So if you’re on the active roster (or certain qualifying lists), simply playing in the game guarantees you a six‑figure check, and winning adds about $75,000 more than losing.
Playoff run money (total possible)
On top of normal NFL contracts, players can stack playoff bonuses round by round:
- Wild card round: around $53,500–$58,500 per player, depending on seeding.
- Divisional round: about $58,500.
- Conference championship: about $81,000.
- Super Bowl: $178,000 for winners, $103,000 for losers.
If a player’s team goes all the way and wins the Super Bowl, the maximum playoff haul is roughly $376,000 in bonuses alone for this season’s structure.
Example: One breakdown of a full playoff run under the current system estimates a player could clear about $376,000 in total postseason pay if they play every game and win the Super Bowl.
Quick historical context
Super Bowl pay has climbed steadily:
- 2026: $178,000 winner / $103,000 loser.
- 2025: $171,000 / $96,000.
- 2024: $164,000 / $89,000.
- Early 2010s: closer to $88,000–$92,000 for winners.
- In earlier eras (1970s–1990s), bonuses were only tens of thousands, far below today’s six‑figure checks.
These increases are negotiated in collective bargaining and reflect the Super Bowl’s growth into a massive TV and advertising event.
One more wrinkle: taxes and “take‑home” pay
- Players owe federal income tax, state/local taxes in the game location, plus agent fees, so they keep well under half of the headline bonus in many cases.
- For games in high‑tax states, there have even been anecdotes of some players feeling like they “lost money” once all tax rules and travel costs were factored in, especially in earlier Super Bowls with smaller bonuses.
Forum-style discussion vibe
In fan forums right now, people are debating:
- Whether $178,000 is “life‑changing” for stars who already make millions vs. a huge deal for minimum‑salary or practice‑squad‑adjacent guys.
- How wild it is that an entire playoff stretch can pay $300k+ in bonuses on top of contracts, especially for younger players still on rookie deals.
- The fact that all of this is league-set bonus money , not the eye‑popping endorsement deals people see in commercials.
Simple answer
If you just want the headline:
- Winning Super Bowl player (2026): about $178,000 bonus.
- Losing Super Bowl player (2026): about $103,000 bonus.
- Full playoff run to a championship: up to about $376,000 in total postseason bonuses.
Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.