The Denver Broncos Owe A Lot Of Money This Season After Winning Super Bowl 50

Thursday night, the Denver Broncos and the Carolina Panthers will lift the curtain on yet another NFL season. This is, of course, a rematch of Super Bowl 50, which the Peyton Manning-led Broncos won 24-10.

Last season's Super Bowl took place in Santa Clara, California, the state with the highest income tax rate in the country, 13.3 percent.

You might be sitting there wondering why this is important, which is exactly how I felt before learning that both the Panthers and Broncos players who participated in Super Bowl 50 are subject to having their earnings taxed by the state of California.

For their victory in Super Bowl 50, each Denver Broncos player was awarded a check of $102,000. The Carolina Panthers players were each given a check for $51,000 just for making it to the big game.

All of that money is taxable by the state of California because it hosted the big game. What's more, those same players also owe California a part of their income for the entire year.

According to reports, it's called the "Jock Tax," and it basically means a state can decide how much a player earned -- and therefore will be taxed -- based on how much time they played and practiced within that state's borders.

I know, this is kind of blowing my mind, too.

But hold onto your hats because it's about to get even worse for the Denver Broncos.

Apparently, every member of the Broncos who received a Super Bowl 50 ring will also receive an additional tax bill.

According to K Sean Packard, a CPA specializing in athlete tax planning for Octagon Financial Services in McLean, Virginia, the worth of each Super Bowl ring has to be cited as a taxable fringe benefit on a player's W-2 form, which would mean that amount would get added to the total income of an NFL player subject to the "Jock Tax."

Basically, playing in and winning the Super Bowl also comes with a pretty hefty price tag.

Packard claims the taxable ring amount is roughly $25,000, but he also said,

I haven't had a Super Bowl winner in a few years though, and they keep getting bigger.

So, you do the math.

Citations: Super Bowl ring taxing for athletes (Bankrate), Taxman Coming for Super Bowl Champion Broncos (FOX Business)