Cam Newton Lost More Than Super Bowl, Here’s His Other Big Loss You Probably Haven’t Heard About
Cam Newton lost much more than the Super Bowl on Sunday, Feb 7 and many fans are probably unaware of how intricate the loss really is. By now, everyone with an internet connection or a television has heard all about the Cam Newton debacle.
The Carolina Panthers quarterback, who has been lionized and vilified by the media and fans around the country, nearly broke the Internet almost immediately after the game for several reasons. Many Americans have expressed mixed opinions about the frustrated quarterback’s level of professionalism, or lack thereof, during the post-game press conference, but there’s more to Cam Newton’s downfall than you probably know.
According to Political Cult, Cam Newton’s pockets were also hit pretty hard as a result of the momentous loss. But, why? Cam Newton may not have faced fines for his seemingly unprofessional decorum, but there’s one penalty he won’t be able to get around – California taxes.
The state of California has a “tops-in-the-nation tax rate of 13.3 percent,” widely referred to as a jock tax,” that isn’t exactly favorable for athletes like Cam Newton, according to Forbes.
It has been reported that Cam Newton has to shell out thousands of dollars simply because he played in the Super Bowl, and once the dust settles, he probably won’t see a dollar of the money he earned during the big game. A detailed breakdown of Cam Newton’s Super Bowl earnings were highlighted in a financial analysis published by Forbes.
Cam Newton was reportedly set to earn approximately $102,000 if the Panthers had once, but since they lost the game, he only earned half the amount – $51,000. However, that’s not all. The numbers breakdown delves a bit deeper into Cam Newton’s tax liability. This year, the NFL MVP will be making a number of appearances in California, all of which come with some form of tax obligation.
If the Panthers win the Super Bowl, Newton will earn another $102,000 in playoff bonuses, but if they lose he will only net another $51,000. The Panthers will have about 206 total duty days during 2016, including the playoffs, preseason, regular season and organized team activities (OTAs), which Newton must attend or lose $500,000. Seven of those duty days will be in California for the Super Bowl and another four will be in the Golden State for road games against Los Angeles and Oakland next season. – Forbes
Based on Cam Newton’s week-long stay in California prior to the Super Bowl, he would have paid approximately $88,000 in taxes on the $102,000 bonus. But, that’s not the worst part. Because the Panthers lost the Super Bowl, Cam Newton still has to pay $87,870, which actually creates a $36,870 deficit. So, technically Cam Newton, along with many other NFL players, actually paid to play in the Super Bowl.
Here’s how it works:
States tax a player based on their calendar-year income. They apply a duty day calculation which takes the ratio of duty days within the state over total duty days for the year. That ratio is then multiplied by the player’s salary to arrive at a state’s allocable income.
This means Cam Newton’s tax rate would have been 86.3 percent, but since the Panthers lost, his tax rate swelled to approximately 172.2 percent. But, the financial madness doesn’t stop there. Cam Newton will also be paying 40.2 percent of his earnings this year.
Although athletes like Cam Newton make substantial amounts of money and probably have no problems meeting their financial obligations, should they be charged such staggering taxes? Share your thoughts.
[Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images]
