It’s only an exhibition game, and oftentimes it’s pretty boring. But players competing in Sunday’s Pro Bowl have thousands of reasons to play for the win.
As noted by Andrew Brandt of TheMMQB, the players from the winning team will earn double the amount the losers will take home.
Why NFL players don't want to lose the Pro Bowl: winning team share is $64,000, losing team share is $32,000. For a scrimmage.
— Andrew Brandt (@AndrewBrandt) January 28, 2018
So, clearly the guys aren’t going to be pushing like they normally would. After all, the risk of injury is a big deal — just ask Cincinnati Bengals tight end Tyler Eifert. But that doesn’t mean these players have nothing to play for.
What’s really cool is that the players who are preparing for Super Bowl LII who are also Pro Bowlers are getting a nice chunk of cash, too.
Players elected to Pro Bowl that are in Super Bowl receive midpoint between winner/loser share: $48,000. Nice payment while preparing for SB.
— Andrew Brandt (@AndrewBrandt) January 28, 2018
Just some walking-around money, right?
In all reality, these men are putting their health on the line every week for the entertainment of us all. So while it might seem ludicrous to some that they’re raking in cash in a game that doesn’t matter whatsoever, it’s really not.