While the NFL Pro Bowl does not carry the same prestige it once did, the financial incentives for players can still be enticing. All players are paid for participating in the Pro Bowl, whether they win or lose. Let’s examine how much players get for competing in the Pro Bowl events and what the reward is for the members of the winning team.
How Much Are NFL Players Paid for the Pro Bowl?
Despite the NFL changing the format of the Pro Bowl, they will still continue to reward players similarly to how they have historically. For simply showing up and partaking in the Pro Bowl, players will take home $42,000, an increase of $2,000 from last year.
It is worth noting that a $42,000 paycheck for playing in the Pro Bowl is more than players got if they were playing Wild Card Weekend for a non-Division Champion ($41,500). It is only marginally less than the players suiting up for Division winners ($46,500).
How much the $42,000 means for a player really varies depending on the salary they earn. To put it into context, a veteran minimum salary for a player with seven years of service time is $68,529 per week. For players with less than four years of service time, their minimum salary varies from $44,118 to $59,412 per week. For those players, the Pro Bowl money is not insignificant.
A prime example is Kavontae Turpin of the Dallas Cowboys. His $42,000 minimum payout would be slightly less than he earned on a per-week basis in the season. In contrast, Saquon Barkley earned more than 10 times ($424,529.41) the Pro Bowl payment on a weekly basis as he played the 2022 season on his fifth-year option.
How Much Do You Make for Winning the Pro Bowl?
There is a financial incentive to winning the Pro Bowl. Finishing victorious in the event doubles the paycheck a player receives to $84,000 — an increase of $4,000 from last year. That is more money than players got for partaking in the Conference Championship Games and more than the players on the losing side of the Super Bowl will get.
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When we go back to our previous example of Turpin’s $705,000 for the season, the $84,000 prize money would be a 90% increase on his weekly in-season salary.
What Was the Historical Prize Money?
The value of competing in the Pro Bowl has increased over time for NFL players. Going back to 1971, let’s look at the changes in the salary for the winners and losers of the NFL’s all-star game.
1971-2000
- 1971-1977
Win: $2,000; Loss: $1,500 - 1978-1982
Win: $5,000; Loss: $2,500 - 1983-1993
Win: $10,000; Loss: $5,000 - 1994-1997
Win: $20,000; Loss: $10,000 - 1998-2000
Win: $25,000; Loss: $12,500
2000-2023
- 2001-2003
Win: $30,000; Loss: $15,000 - 2004-2005
Win: $35,000; Loss: $17,500 - 2006-2008
Win: $40,000; Loss: $20,000 - 2009-2011
Win: $45,000; Loss: $22,500 - 2012-2013
Win: $50,000; Loss: $25,000 - 2014
Win: $53,000; Loss: $26,000 - 2015-2016
Win: $55,000; Loss: $28,000 - 2017
Win: $61,000; Loss: $30,000 - 2018
Win: $64,000; Loss: $32,000 - 2019
Win: $67,000; Loss: $34,000 - 2020
Win: $70,000; Loss: $35,000 - 2022
Win: $80,000; Loss: $40,000 - 2023
Win: $84,000; Loss: $42,000