Here is how much the players at the NFL Playoffs earn, along with the championship game and Super Bowl payout, salary and prize money in 2023
League stars’ monthly income is drastically reduced, but players also receive a portion of the money made during the playoffs.
It pays well to play in the National Football League. As the NFL approaches $20 billion in annual revenue, it is on track to meet Commissioner Roger Goodell’s target of $27 billion by 2027.
The average value of an NFL franchise increased to a record $4.47 billion in 2022 (+28% YoY). The NFL is expected to make money during these playoffs thanks to expensive television contracts and record ratings that have inflated ad revenue.
NFL playoffs, championship game and Super Bowl 2023 winner and runner up prize money and player salary
NFL players typically receive weekly payments throughout the regular season, with their annual salaries being split across 18 weeks.
These checks end once the postseason starts. Although playoff checks are usually significantly less than regular season game checks, players who participate in playoff games are nonetheless paid.
There are four tiers of playoff compensation: two for the Wild Card round, one for the Divisional Round and Conference Championship Round, and the final one, obviously, for the Super Bowl.
A player must be included on the team’s 53-man roster, active/inactive list, reserve/injured list, or both in order to be eligible for postseason pay.
In accordance with the league’s collective bargaining agreement (CBA), players on a team that won its division and hosted a Wild Card playoff game were entitled to $46,500 for the 2022–23 season.
Each player gets $41,500 if their team received a first-round bye or an at-large Wild Card berth. Each participant in the Divisional Round games this weekend will get $46,500.
Players will receive a raise in pay for the Conference Championship games over the following weekend, with each player receiving $69,000.
How much for the Super Bowl squad?
Each player on the winning Super Bowl squad will receive a check for $157,000, while each member of the losing team will receive a consolation prize of $82,000.
Lesser than regular season?
These payments are significantly less than what many athletes receive throughout the regular season.
One of the more severe instances is quarterback Patrick Mahomes of the Kansas City Chiefs, who earned $2.5 million each week ($45 million yearly) as one of the highest-paid players in the league. Therefore, his $46,000 payment for participating in this weekend’s Divisional Round game against the Jacksonville Jaguars represents a pitiful 1.84 percent of his regular weekly salary.
The more money the league rakes in, the more the players make
The players still receive their share despite not receiving huge postseason cheques. The current CBA mandates that the players get a minimum of 48% of all profits, which includes money made from sponsorships, television/broadcast partnerships, and local income.
Therefore, the players’ salaries increase as the league’s revenue increases.
Media rights of the league
The league also signed media rights deals with CBS, NBC, Fox, ESPN, and Amazon worth a total of approximately $110 billion over the next 11 years.
These deals put the players at large on track to earn about $54 billion during that time, a sum that wouldn’t be nearly as significant without playoff money.
The league’s TV rating
The NFL dominates TV ratings, particularly in January and February. The Top 100 most-watched television broadcasts in 2022 included 82 NFL games, with the Super Bowl LVI and the games coming up to it taking the top three slots and postseason games getting seven of the top 10 spots overall.
Strong playoff viewership played a significant role in the league’s 171.3 billion ad impressions in 2022. With some 30-second Super Bowl commercial spots selling for a record $7 million this year, the NFL is preparing to profit from the sport’s biggest event once more.
ALSO READ: PLAY FREE ONLINE GAMES
Recommended: Courses in Sports Management