We won't predict the winner of this Sunday's Super Bowl between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Green Bay Packers. But we can report this much: The Steelers will get to keep a lot more of their season earnings, though both team's players would be a lot richer if they played all of their home games in Dallas.
Take the Packers' fleet-footed quarterback Aaron Rodgers. He made $8.6 million in 2009, according to USA Today's database of player salaries. Of that, we calculate he paid roughly $680,000 in state and $3.1 million in federal income and payroll taxes. Steeler quarterback Ben Roethlisberger didn't earn as much, but he got to keep a relatively larger chunk of his haul—$4.6 million of his $7.7 million salary. (This excludes taxes paid to states that tax players visiting on away games.)
Unlike Wisconsin, which has a graduated income tax that charges top earners 7.75% on earnings over $220,000, Pennsylvania has a 3% flat rate. Even football players can behold the merit of a flat tax. Of course, both players would keep a lot more of their earnings if like quarterback Tony Romo (salary: $625,000) they played for the Cowboys since Texas levies no state income tax. On the other hand, Packer and Steeler fans will pay if they travel to Texas for the game since Texas's beer tax is more than twice as high as their home state's.
It's also worth noting that Messrs. Rodgers and Roethlisberger will save roughly $750,000 combined this year (if their salaries stay the same) thanks to the extension of the Bush tax cuts. This ought to console Sunday's loser.
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