The Kansas City Chiefs were the talk of the 2023 NFL season with Taylor Swift in the stands and the team winning a second straight Super Bowl. The rumors and the title were a boon to the bank accounts of the Chiefs’ two biggest stars.
Patrick Mahomes earned $3.6 million in group licensing and marketing revenue during the 12 months through February, according to the NFL Players Association’s annual report filed this week with the U.S. Department of Labor. The tally led NFL players and was up 53% from the previous year, when the Chiefs also won the Super Bowl.
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Swift’s boyfriend Travis Kelce’s licensing income soared 177% to $2.4 million and ranked fourth among NFL players, behind Mahomes and quarterbacks Jalen Hurts (2.7 million dollars) and Josh Allen ($2.5 million).
Profits come from all group licensing deals, including multiplayer ones negotiated through the NFLPA, such as video games, jerseys and trading cards. Players receive royalties paid based on sales of items such as jerseys.
Almost all NFL players received at least $32,000 from the PA.
In addition to the PA royalty check, Mahomes win more than $20 million a year from its nearly 20 sponsor partners, including Adidas, Coors Light, State Farm and Subway. Last year, it added BOSS, T-Mobile and Walmart. His latest venture is a “good for you” coffee brand, Throne Coffee, which thrown out two weeks ago and has Mahomes as the second largest investor.
Many of the listings in the LM-2 report show LLCs that are registered for players: Kelce is TMK Enterprises LLC and Mahomes is 2PM LLC. Most of them are easily decipherable or identifiable from corporate records, but sports was unable to pinpoint the fifth and sixth place players, listed as MMBOC LLC ($2.3 million) and SACC 1of1 LLC ($2.2 million).
It’s not just current players who benefit from group licensing. Peyton Manning came in seventh overall with $2.1 million, double the previous year’s earnings. Rob Gronkowski finished 10th with $1.9 million, one tick behind Joe Burrow.
Tom Brady has regularly earned the most from licensing fees, including $9.5 million and $6.8 million over the past two years, but TEB Capital Management received a fraction of the previous year’s payments with just $651,938.
The stars of the San Francisco 49ers also benefited from their run to the Super Bowl. Running back Christian McCaffrey made $1.7 million, more than three times more than the year before when he was traded midseason from Carolina, and ranked 12th overall. Quarterback Brock Purdy pocketed $710,619, 10 times what he made the previous year and 82% of Mr. Irrelevant’s $870,000 salary from the 2022 NFL Draft. Tight end George Kittle earned $1.6 million of dollars.
Aaron Rodgers lasted just four regular-season snaps with the New York Jets before rupturing his Achilles tendon, but fans still devoured his merchandise, earning the four-time MVP $1.6 million. TJ Watt ($808,103) edged out his brother JJ ($743,849) by a narrow margin, while the Diggs brothers had Stefon ($562,774) over Trevon ($467,754).
Twenty-two players received at least $1 million in royalties, with Aidan Hutchinson missing the seven-figure mark by just $7,680. Twenty players earned at least $1 million during the 2022 season, led by Brady.
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