How Much Does the Super Bowl Winner Get Paid? Player Shares Explained

Each player on the winning Super Bowl LX roster received a $178,000 bonus from the NFL, on top of their regular salary. Losing Super Bowl players got $103,000. These "playoff shares" are set by the NFL-NFLPA collective bargaining agreement and paid equally to every eligible player, from the starting quarterback to a practice-squad call-up.

That $178,000 figure comes from the 2025 season (Super Bowl LX, played February 8, 2026, where the Seattle Seahawks beat the New England Patriots 29-13). A player who was on a team's roster for the entire run — from a wild-card bye through the Super Bowl win — could collect roughly $376,000 in league-mandated postseason pay, a number first reported by Sportico. Here's exactly how that math works, and how the rest of the payout system functions.

Playoff Shares by Round (2025 Season / Super Bowl LX)

These are the per-player amounts set by the CBA for the 2025 NFL season's postseason, paid to eligible players on each participating team. Note that a division-winning team and a wild-card team earn different amounts in the opening round — a detail most coverage skips.

Why the "$376,000" figure is real: A No. 1 seed that earned a first-round bye, then won the divisional round, conference championship, and Super Bowl, banks $58,500 + $58,500 + $81,000 + $178,000 = $376,000 in playoff shares alone — separate from salary. A wild-card team that had to win all four rounds earns $53,500 + $58,500 + $81,000 + $178,000 = $371,000 instead, since it doesn't get the bye-week payment.

These figures apply specifically to the 2025 season's postseason. The CBA sets a full schedule of these amounts through the 2030 season, and they rise slightly every year (more on that below).

Everyone Gets the Same Share

This is the part that surprises most fans: playoff pay isn't tied to a player's salary, position, or stats. A future Hall of Fame quarterback and a practice-squad linebacker elevated for the Super Bowl receive the identical check for that round, as long as both are eligible. Sportico's reporting on the 2026 game put it directly: within a team, "the league-issued Super Bowl shares are identical for eligible players, from franchise quarterbacks to special team players."

Eligibility, per the CBA, breaks down by round:

• Wild-card and divisional rounds: Any player on the 53-man active roster, the inactive list, or injured reserve at the time of the game qualifies for the full share.
• Conference championship and Super Bowl: Eligibility gets more specific, since rosters change all season. Full shares go to players who were on the active/inactive list for at least three games that season, plus injured veterans still under contract. Players with fewer than three games — or who left the roster after logging three to seven games — typically qualify for a half share. A smaller, quarter-share tier exists for certain injured first-year players with limited practice-squad or game-day history.
• Practice squad: Practice-squad players don't draw from the postseason bonus pool the way roster players do — they continue earning their normal weekly practice-squad salary as long as the team keeps playing. A player who gets promoted, or "elevated," to the active roster for a playoff game becomes eligible for that round's share under the rules above. For more on what practice-squad players make week to week, see How Much Do NFL Practice Squad Players Make.

It Doesn't Count Against the Cap

Playoff shares are paid separately from and in addition to a player's regular-season salary — and they come out of a league-wide pool, not an individual team's budget. As CBS Sports' Agent's Take column has explained, "playoff money comes from a league pool instead of from NFL teams," with payments required within 15 days of each game.

Because the money is league-funded rather than club-funded, it does not count against a team's salary cap. A team that spent right up to the cap limit during the season faces no additional cap charge for winning the Super Bowl — the postseason pool sits entirely outside that accounting.

How the Numbers Have Grown

Playoff shares escalate every year under the CBA's pre-set schedule. Recent Super Bowl winner and loser shares:

Both figures have climbed by $7,000 in each of the last two years — a steady, contractually locked increase rather than a market-driven jump. The full round-by-round schedule (wild card, divisional, conference title, and Super Bowl) is written out through the 2030 season in Article 37 of the CBA, so teams and agents can calculate exact payouts years in advance.

What About the Rings?

Winning teams also get championship rings — but unlike the cash shares, the league only partially subsidizes these.

• Who pays: Team ownership covers the bulk of the cost. The NFL provides an allowance of about $5,000 per ring, for up to 150 rings per team — nowhere close to what a full custom ring actually costs.
• Typical cost: A single Super Bowl ring commonly runs $30,000 to $50,000, depending on the design, diamond count, and metal. Total team spending on a full batch of rings frequently reaches several million dollars.
• Who's eligible: Rings go beyond just players — coaches, executives, and staff typically receive them too, and the CBA specifies that practice-squad players on the championship roster are entitled to a ring "similar in appearance" to what active-roster players get, though a team may choose a lower-cost version for staff.
• Losing teams: The Super Bowl loser doesn't go home empty-handed. Both conference championship losers typically receive AFC or NFC title rings, honoring that they won their conference — a consolation piece, not a Super Bowl ring.

Do They Pay Tax on It?

Yes. Playoff shares are ordinary taxable income, reported like any other paycheck, and subject to federal tax plus state income tax in whatever states apply to a player under multi-state "duty day" allocation rules that professional athletes use nationwide.

Because the Super Bowl itself is played in a single host state, players — including those from teams based in no-income-tax states — often owe that state's "jock tax" on their Super Bowl earnings. Super Bowl LX was played at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, California, so both Seahawks and Patriots players owed California tax on income tied to the days they spent working in the state around the game, including practices and media obligations.

This is general information, not tax advice — players use specialized accountants precisely because these rules get complicated fast.

How Other Leagues Pay Their Champions

The NFL's system — fixed, escalating dollar amounts per round, funded by the league — is just one model. The NBA, NHL, and MLB each structure postseason pay very differently.

The MLB model is the clearest outlier: instead of a pre-set bonus schedule, the players' pool is calculated as a percentage of ticket revenue from a subset of early playoff games, so it fluctuates with how many fans show up. For more on how another sport's playoff bonus works round by round, see How Much Money Does the Stanley Cup Winner Get.

Bonus Context: Individual Playoff Incentives

On top of the league-wide shares above, many players have individual contract incentives tied to playoff performance — separate money negotiated team by team. For the 2025 postseason, reported examples included a Seahawks quarterback with incentives worth up to $500,000 for a Super Bowl win (on top of separate berth and divisional-round bonuses), and other veteran quarterbacks around the league with contract clauses worth well into seven figures for a title run. These are individually negotiated and vary enormously by player and contract — they're not part of the standardized playoff-share system described above.

FAQ

Do Super Bowl winners get prize money? Yes. Every eligible player on the winning roster receives a fixed bonus from the NFL — $178,000 for the 2025-season Super Bowl (LX) — separate from any salary or individual contract bonuses.

How much do Super Bowl losers get? Losing Super Bowl players received $103,000 each for the 2025 season (Super Bowl LX), roughly 58% of the winner's share.

Do practice squad players get a Super Bowl share? Practice-squad players continue earning their normal weekly salary through the playoffs rather than drawing from the bonus pool, unless they're elevated to the active roster for a game, which makes them eligible for that round's share under the CBA's eligibility rules.

Who pays for Super Bowl rings? The winning team's ownership pays the bulk of the cost. The NFL contributes a fixed allowance of about $5,000 per ring, for up to 150 rings — a fraction of what a full custom ring, often $30,000-$50,000 each, actually costs.

Does playoff pay count against the salary cap? No. It's funded by a league-wide pool rather than by individual teams, so it sits outside the salary cap entirely.

Do Super Bowl shares get taxed? Yes, as ordinary income, and players often owe "jock tax" to the state hosting the Super Bowl in addition to federal tax and their home-state obligations. This is general information, not tax advice.

How much has the Super Bowl winner's share grown over time? It's risen every year under the CBA's pre-set schedule — from $164,000 (2023 season) to $171,000 (2024 season) to $178,000 (2025 season), a $7,000 increase each year.