Breaking Down California’s Insane “Super Bowl Tax”
10th February 2026
Yesterday, the Seattle Seahawks beat the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LX at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California.
From a financial perspective, each Seahawks player will take home $178,000—payment for that particular game.
Now, given that the Superbowl was played in California—and the players earned money playing in the game— it’s reasonable for the state of California to tax that specific income.
But that’s not the way California looks at it.
Instead, the state will go back in time, all the way to the start of the NFL season in September, and take their ‘fair share’ of the players’ ENTIRE salaries over the entire season.