Super Bowl champions face brutal California tax bill and will pay more than they earn in prize money

Feb 4, 2026 - 23:00

Super Bowl LX is just days away, and with festivities underway, it’s shaping up to be a tightly contested affair.

It’s a rematch of Super Bowl XLIX, the New England Patriots and Seattle Seahawks, who will be battling it out at Levi’s Stadium.

Both teams breezed through the playoffs and are deserving conference champions, but playing in California at the home of the 49ers will have some slight pay implications for the winning team.

California has some of the highest income tax in the USA, and even visiting teams are not immune to it.

According to Sportico, from Drake Maye and Sam Darnold to benchwarmers, all players on the victorious team will be paid $178,000, while losers will receive $130,000.

This is a part of the collective bargaining agreement between the NFL and NFLPA, governing postseason play and treating players on each team the same.

Place of residency plays a part, too, as they may face additional taxes in the state where they live.

Sportico predicts that if the Patriots win the Super Bowl, Maye will have to pay $186,000 to California in taxes, more than he would earn.

But for Darnold, because he lives in California during the off-season, he would pay $249,000 in taxes to the government.

The winner won’t be complaining when all is said and done, but it’s interesting to know that both starting QBs would have to pay more than what they earned in taxes.

Darnold proves Jets and Vikings wrong, has first chance at a ring

In Darnold’s way for his first shot at a Super Bowl ring will be Maye, the second-year QB out of North Carolina.

Maye threw 300 more yards than Darnold did in the regular season, but hasn’t quite endured the same journey the Seahawks star has.

Drake Maye Sam Darnold — Both Drake Maye and Sam Darnold project to have to pay more than they earn in tax

Sam Darnold #14 of the Seattle Seahawks throws a pass during an NFL football game against the Arizona Cardinals at State Farm Stadium on September 25, 2025 in Glendale, Arizona. — Darnold took the Seahawks back to the Super Bowl in his first year as a starter there

Darnold has had quite a rollercoaster career, but his first Super Bowl will be the pinnacle, no matter how much tax he has to pay.

Just eight-yards after he was supposed to become the next great arm in New York, he is the leader of the favorite in the biggest annual sporting event on the planet.

Not bad for a quarterback who was on the verge of becoming a career backup and was already viewed as a bust.

The Jets gave up on Darnold after picking him third overall in the 2018 NFL Draft. He then went to the Carolina Panthers, appearing in 18 games in two seasons.

After a stint as Brock Purdy’s backup, the 28-year-old found himself as the starting quarterback for the Minnesota Vikings, where he threw for 4319 yards and 35 touchdowns.

But the Vikings chose inexperienced J.J. McCarthy over Darnold in a decision that has had major ramifications.

Sam Darnold has come a long way since his Jets days — Darnold has made the first Super Bowl of his career after 8 years in the NFL

As a consequence of the choice, the Vikings have now watched their former QB go 14-3 with the Seahawks and make it to the Super Bowl.

There was always talent within ‘NFL’s most boring quarterback’, it just took multiple teams to overlook him.

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