MW Super Bowl winner Sam Darnold just made another $2.5 million on Sunday
By Weston Blasi
Here are some other surprising facts and figures around Super Bowl LX
Sam Darnold, right, got the better of Drake Maye, left, in Super Bowl LX.
Super Bowl LX ended with the Seattle Seahawks beating the New England Patriots on Sunday in a highly anticipated rematch.
The two teams previously played each other in Super Bowl XLIX in 2015 - a game that ended when New England's defense famously intercepted Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson on the one-yard line to seal the victory for the Patriots.
And while the teams' heated rivalry remains, there were some fresh faces on the field this time around. Back in 2015, Wilson and legendary quarterback Tom Brady led their respective teams; now, younger quarterbacks are at the helm. Seattle's Sam Darnold, 28, once the No. 3 overall pick in the NFL Draft, bounced around the league before finding a home in Seattle. New England's Drake Maye, 23, was also the No. 3 in his draft class two years ago, becoming the heir apparent to Brady.
While there are some similarities in how each player joined the NFL and played their way to the Super Bowl, their paychecks look very different.
Maye is still on his rookie contract, and is only earning $2.47 million this season, according to Sportrac. That's the 50th-highest figure among quarterbacks in the NFL, and one of the lowest for a starting quarterback in the league. Darnold, on the other hand, is making $40 million, which ranks 13th among quarterbacks.
Related: In a coming-out party for prediction markets and sports, people just traded nearly $1.5 billion on the Super Bowl winner
In addition to their base salaries, each player also received roster, signing and performance-based bonuses throughout the year, which raises their overall cash earnings for this season.
Darnold not only got the better of Maye on the field to clinch a Super Bowl victory, he also clinched a super bonus. Darnold will be awarded an additional $2.5 million bonus for his Super Bowl win - a higher figure than Maye's earnings for the entire year. Maye had no such bonuses in his contract, according to Spotrac's data.
Related: Why smart investors are ignoring the 2026 Super Bowl Indicator
The quarterback earnings gap wasn't the only interesting financial figure to note for Super Bowl LX. Whether it's game-day-experience costs, sports betting or commercial prices, here are some of the most interesting numbers around Super Bowl LX.
Ticket prices
The Super Bowl is almost always the most expensive sporting event for fans to attend in the U.S. each year.
The cheapest ticket to get into Santa Clara, Calif.'s Levi's Stadium on Super Bowl Sunday was $3,592, and the average price was $7,221, according to ticketing platform SeatPick. But the highest price for a single premium seat at this year's game was an eye-watering $152,786 before the game - a price that was so high, it is more than double the median annual income in the U.S.
Overall ticket prices were roughly in line with last year's game, but comparing year-over-year Super Bowl ticket prices can be tricky because the location of the game changes every year. For example, ticket prices for the 2025 game in New Orleans were significantly lower than the 2024 Super Bowl held in Las Vegas, a higher-cost city that was hosting its first-ever Super Bowl. Super Bowl tickets typically average $4,000 to $8,000, according to TickPick.
Related: Buy the dip! Your guacamole for Super Bowl Sunday is the cheapest it's been in decades - and chip prices are down, too.
While the Super Bowl is usually the premier sporting event in North America each year, that could potentially change later in 2026: The most expensive tickets for the FIFA World Cup, whose final will be played at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, are currently already over $70,000.
Parking passes
Parking for big sporting events can be a nightmare, and ticket holders are not guaranteed a spot.
As of the Friday before the Super Bowl, the cheapest parking pass that fans could buy on StubHub $(STUB)$ was $170. Think that's a steep price? It got even worse when you realize that parking spot wasn't even at the stadium - it was 25-minute walk, or 1.1 miles away. Closer parking spots at Blue Lot 2 near Levi's Stadium were priced on the Friday before the game at $3,443, according to StubHub
The league's advice: "Fans should use rideshare or public lots to park," the NFL suggested on its website.
Expected Super Bowl bets, and who they're wagering on
A record $1.76 billion was expected to be legally wagered on Super Bowl LX, according to the American Gaming Association. That amount does not include money risked in places like office pools, Super Bowl boxes or prediction markets.
Read more: This Super Bowl, the game to watch is prediction markets versus sportsbooks
Popular wagers on DraftKings $(DKNG)$ sportsbooks included: the first touchdown scorer being Seattle wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba; Darnold to win Super Bowl MVP; and Seattle to cover the 4.5-point betting spread. Of those three bets, only Seattle to cover the spread was a winning wager.
Commercial costs
Advertisers flock to the Super Bowl each year because so many people tune in - a record 127.7 million U.S. viewers watched the game across television and streaming platforms in 2025.
Because live sporting events are one of the few remaining places in the fractured media landscape where advertisers can reach a large audience, demand was as high as ever. Comcast's $(CMCSA)$ NBC, the broadcaster for Super Bowl LX, sold out of ad space in September, according to the Associated Press.
Read more: NFL heads into Super Bowl after season of record ratings, paving way for TV-rights bonanza
Commercial slots sold for an average of $8 million per 30-second ad, but a handful of spots sold for a record $10 million-plus, according to Peter Lazarus, executive vice president of sports & Olympics, advertising and partnerships for NBCUniversal.
Many of the ads this year featured mainstay industries like beer and automobiles, and some newcomers like AI companies and weight-loss drugs.
Read on: Super Bowl LX is turning into AI's coming-out party
-Weston Blasi
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(END) Dow Jones Newswires
February 09, 2026 18:24 ET (23:24 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2026 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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