Philadelphia’s players each received $171,000 for winning the Super Bowl. That’s a nice bonus for guys on the bottom end of the roster, but it’s not much in the grand scheme of things – considering how much money is in the game today.
Consider, for example, Super Bowl bonuses relative to the salary cap. Player bonuses have steadily increased, but the league’s overall revenue has grown faster.
In the salary cap era, Super Bowl bonuses have quadrupled – from $42,000 to up $171,000. But the salary cap has grown faster – from $34.6 million up to $255.4 million last year. They’re adding another $20 million on this year, which is almost 8 times as much relative to 30 years ago.
If they were trying to keep Super Bowl bonuses in lockstep with the cap, player shares would have been $310,000 last year.
A check for $171,000 is a nice little bonus, of course, but it would represent less than a tenth of a percent on a team’s salary cap (.07 percent, to be more exact). Back in the ‘90s, player bonuses were almost twice as large (relative to the cap).
A Super Bowl win, of course, creates extra value beyond just the game check. Players winning Super Bowls (or even playing in them) tend to become more valuable when it’s time to talk contract. And they’re more likely to land marketing opportunities of their own. Jalen Hurts, A.J. Brown, Saquon Barkley and DeVonta Smith are worth more now than they were worth a month ago.
But the bonus sizes seem a little weird. Super Bowl commercials now cost about $8 million for 30 seconds. That is almost enough to pay the Super Bowl bonuses for all 53 guys on the roster.
| SUPER BONUSES VS. SALARY CAP | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Super Bowl | Salary Cap | Pct |
| 1994 | $42,000 | $34,608,000 | .12% |
| 1995 | $42,000 | $37,100,000 | .11% |
| 1996 | $48,000 | $40,753,000 | .12% |
| 1997 | $48,000 | $41,454,000 | .12% |
| 1998 | $53,000 | $52,388,000 | .10% |
| 1999 | $58,000 | $57,288,000 | .10% |
| 2000 | $58,000 | $62,172,000 | .09% |
| 2001 | $63,000 | $67,405,000 | .09% |
| 2002 | $63,000 | $71,101,000 | .09% |
| 2003 | $68,000 | $75,001,000 | .09% |
| 2004 | $68,000 | $80,582,000 | .08% |
| 2005 | $73,000 | $85,500,000 | .09% |
| 2006 | $73,000 | $102,000,000 | .07% |
| 2007 | $78,000 | $109,000,000 | .07% |
| 2008 | $78,000 | $116,000,000 | .07% |
| 2009 | $83,000 | $123,000,000 | .07% |
| 2010 | $83,000 | uncapped | -- |
| 2011 | $88,000 | $120,375,000 | .07% |
| 2012 | $88,000 | $120,600,000 | .07% |
| 2013 | $92,000 | $123,600,000 | .07% |
| 2014 | $97,000 | $133,000,000 | .07% |
| 2015 | $102,000 | $143,280,000 | .07% |
| 2016 | $107,000 | $155,270,000 | .07% |
| 2017 | $112,000 | $167,000,000 | .07% |
| 2018 | $118,000 | $177,200,000 | .07% |
| 2019 | $124,000 | $188,200,000 | .07% |
| 2020 | $130,000 | $198,200,000 | .07% |
| 2021 | $150,000 | $182,500,000 | .08% |
| 2022 | $157,000 | $208,200,000 | .08% |
| 2023 | $164,000 | $224,800,000 | .07% |
| 2024 | $171,000 | $255,400,000 | .07% |
—Ian Allan