NFL
Who is the lowest and highest paid mascot in the NFL?
NFL mascots enjoy home game appearances, team events, and the company of star players while earning substantial pay during the active season. But how much is that?
The NFL isn’t just about American football and its players. It’s also about the show, the promotional events, the fans, and the Super Bowl that has built a reputation for itself on a global scale. That’s why figures of entertainment like cheerleaders and team mascots on the field have been around since the birth of the league and play an important role in keeping the show popping, no matter what’s happening in the game itself.
While cheerleaders have always been a topic of conversation, mascots aren’t usually as talked about. That’s why we were intrigued to look into that aspect of the NFL and in particular find out what the pay and conditions are like as a mascot in the top-tier American League.
Highest-paid NFL mascots
Unlike in college, mascots in the NFL earn good money, with many bringing in around $60,000 a year for donning their plush, bulky suit and bouncing around madly on the sidelines. One thing to note is that the franchises rarely make the mascots’ salaries public, so the figures we have here are from what has leaked out over the years.
The highest paid mascot is reckoned to be Dallas Cowboys’ Rowdy, who is said to earn $65,000 per year, which makes sense as the mascot of ‘America’s team.’ Pat Patriot is the second highest-paid mascot in the league, now earning nearly the same amount as Rowdy. San Francisco’s Sourdough Sam comes in third, earning $60,000 per season.
Not every NFL team has a mascot, however. While the majority of the 32 teams do, four do not have a mascot: New York Jets, Green Bay Packers, New York Giants and the Los Angeles Chargers.
The Washington Commanders have only fairly recently revealed their new mascot, who goes along with their rebrand from the Washington Redskins, he’s called Major Tuddy, and is a large pig, named after the slang for a touchdown, he’s a pig in homage to the team’s famed offensive line in the 80s, the Hogs.
Note that the Los Angeles Chargers did have an unofficial mascot, Boltman, but Dan Jauregui, the man behind the mask, retired him back in 2018 after over 20 years in the role.
Lowest-paid NFL mascots
There is no one lowest-paid mascot in the NFL, but there are a few who are paid no more than $50,000 a season, including the Seattle Seahawks’ Blitz and Carolina Panthers’ Sir Purr.
NFL mascots’ estimated salaries in 2024
| No. | Mascots | Team | Earnings/season |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rowdy | Dallas Cowboys | $65,000 |
| 2 | Pat Patriot | New England Patriots | $65,000 |
| 3 | Sourdough Sam | San Francisco 49ers | $60,000 |
| 4 | Toro | Houston Texans | $60,000 |
| 5 | Staley Da Bear | Chicago Bears | $60,000 |
| 6 | Swoop | Philadelphia Eagles | $60,000 |
| 7 | Miles | Denver Broncos | $60,000 |
| 8 | Poe | Baltimore Ravens | $60,000 |
| 9 | Steely McBeam | Pittsburgh Steelers | $60,000 |
| 10 | Blue | Indianapolis Colts | $50,000 |
| 11 | Blitz | Seattle Seahawks | $50,000 |
| 12 | Freddie Falcon | Atlanta Falcons | $50,000 |
| 13 | Viktor | Minnesota Vikings | $50,000 |
| 14 | Sir Purr | Carolina Panthers | $50,000 |
Highest-paid mascot ever
While NFL mascots aren’t making more than these numbers shown above, there are some professional mascots who make six figures or more in a season. NBA Denver Nuggets’ Rocky is making an insane amount and is considered to be the highest-paid mascot in all of sports, $625,000 per year. Rocky, who’s been around for a while, was even inducted into the Mascot Hall of Fame back in 2006.