NFL Pro bowl prize money breakdown: How much do NFL players make for winning 2023 game?

Jacob Camenker

NFL Pro bowl prize money breakdown: How much do NFL players make for winning 2023 game? image

The NFL Pro Bowl has certainly lost its luster in recent years. It has become less competitive with players rightly focused on their overall health and protecting their careers as opposed to going all-out in the meaningless game.

So, why does the NFL still host the event? It's all about one thing: Money.

The NFL is still able to make money by turning the Pro Bowl into a made-for-TV event. The players also are incentivized to at least participate in the games, as they are paid handsomely to do so.

The players that are on the winning side of the Pro Bowl will actually make more than the Super Bowl losers do. Just how much is that set to be? Here's a breakdown of what the NFL will pay its Pro Bowl participants in 2023.

MORE: How to watch 2023 Pro Bowl Games, flag football matchup between AFC and NFC

How much money do the 2023 Pro Bowl winners get?

The players on the winning team in the 2023 Pro Bowl will receive $84,000 for their efforts, per Mark Ross of Athlon Sports. That marks the highest Pro Bowl winner's share in NFL history and is more than the loser of the Super Bowl will make in game checks ($82,000 per player).

Meanwhile, the loser's Pro Bowl share is also as lucrative as it has ever been. It will be worth $42,000 per player. 

The previous high-water mark for Pro Bowl prize money came in 2022. During that contest, winners were paid $80,000 while losers made $40,000. The total payouts have increased every year dating back to 2016 and have more than doubled since 2008 as the NFL tries to incentivize players to participate in the games.

Does the Pro Bowl's new format impact how much players are paid?

The Pro Bowl's new format doesn't appear to have an impact on how much players are going to be paid. They are still going to be similarly compensated despite playing flag football in 2023 as a part of the rebranded "Pro Bowl Games."

It isn't clear whether there will be prize money awarded to those who participate in — and win — the various skills competitions throughout the week. If so, that would mark a change from previous seasons; but the NFL hasn't made any announcement about that to date.

Pro Bowl prize money history

In its early days, the Pro Bowl offered only a little bit more prize money to its winners compared to its losers. The 1971 edition of the game paid the victors $2,000 while the losers made $1,500. It remained that way until 1978, when the league changed its prize-money payouts and established that the winners would be paid twice as much as the losers.

Since then, the Pro Bowl winners has almost always made double their losers. There were only a couple of times in the 2010s where that was not the case.

Below is a look at the history of Pro Bowl prize money from the 1971 edition of the game to the 2023 Pro Bowl games.

Note: The 2021 Pro Bowl was canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Year Winner's share Loser's share
1971 $2,000 $1,500
1972 $2,000 $1,500
1973 $2,000 $1,500
1974 $2,000 $1,500
1975 $2,000 $1,500
1976 $2,000 $1,500
1977 $2,000 $1,500
1978 $5,000 $2,500
1979 $5,000 $2,500
1980 $5,000 $2,500
1981 $5,000 $2,500
1982 $5,000 $2,500
1983 $10,000 $5,000
1984 $10,000 $5,000
1985 $10,000 $5,000
1986 $10,000 $5,000
1987 $10,000 $5,000
1988 $10,000 $5,000
1989 $10,000 $5,000
1990 $10,000 $5,000
1991 $10,000 $5,000
1992 $10,000 $5,000
1993 $10,000 $5,000
1994 $20,000 $10,000
1995 $20,000 $10,000
1996 $20,000 $10,000
1997 $20,000 $10,000
1998 $25,000 $12,500
1999 $25,000 $12,500
2000 $25,000 $12,500
2001 $30,000 $15,000
2002 $30,000 $15,000
2003 $30,000 $15,000
2004 $35,000 $17,500
2005 $35,000 $17,500
2006 $40,000 $20,000
2007 $40,000 $20,000
2008 $40,000 $20,000
2009 $45,000 $22,500
2010 $45,000 $22,500
2011 $45,000 $22,500
2012 $50,000 $25,000
2013 $50,000 $25,000
2014 $53,000 $26,000
2015 $55,000 $28,000
2016 $55,000 $28,000
2017 $61,000 $30,000
2018 $64,000 $32,000
2019 $67,000 $34,000
2020 $70,000 $35,000
2021
2022 $80,000 $40,000
2023 $84,000 $42,000

Jacob Camenker

Jacob Camenker Photo

Jacob Camenker first joined The Sporting News as a fantasy football intern in 2018 after his graduation from UMass. He became a full-time employee with TSN in 2021 and now serves as a senior content producer with a particular focus on the NFL. Jacob worked at NBC Sports Boston as a content producer from 2019 to 2021. He is an avid fan of the NFL Draft and ranked 10th in FantasyPros’ Mock Draft Accuracy metric in both 2021 and 2022.