Last night saw the New England Patriots beat the Atalanta Falcons 34 – 28 and win the Super Bowl. The event is estimated to be watched by over 110 million people in 198 countries and territories worldwide. With the top players earning a UK equivalent of over £10 million a year you would think the financial reward for winning the top prize would be great. That seems not to be the case (by top professional sports standards anyway).

The American Football season only has 16 games and the players get paid by the clubs. The play-off games, which lead to the super bowl final, is classed as postseason and the pay for this does not come from the player contracts but it comes from the NFL (National Football League) itself. Every player on the team roster get exactly the same pay. So, for winning the super bowl, the top starting quarterback gets paid the same as the 3rd choice rookie, estimated to be about £80,000. The losing finalists get around £42,000. These sums of money are still massive when compared to the average salary of people in the UK but in terms of the money and popularity of the sport they are quite reserved.

Kass Verjee
Kass Verjee

Kass is not only a qualified bookkeeper/accountant but he is also a Fellow of The Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales and has a full practising certificate.