Kelce vs. Manning: Battle of the NFL Brothers On and Off the Field

While it’s easy to think of professional athletes as household names, that isn’t true for most players. Consider the NFL as an example. While just about everyone has heard of Patrick Mahomes or Tom Brady, each team has a 53-man roster. Can you name the backup left guard on your favorite team, let alone another squad on the opposite side of the country?

Through that lens, name recognition is a good barometer of success. For your name to transcend team loyalties and become known by the wider population, you must have done something right. And by that metric, both Travis and Jason Kelce are on top of their game.

Beyond their on field success—the brothers collectively boast four Super Bowl rings and 16 Pro Bowl nods—they’ve taken over pop culture. Whether you’re watching TV, listening to a podcast or catching up on the latest celebrity gossip, you’re going to encounter a Kelce.

The Cincinnati products aren’t the first pair of NFL brothers to evolve from football players into larger celebrities, though. Peyton and Eli Manning already walked that road, transiting from quarterbacks into media ever-presents.

And sports, like it or not, is a competitive space where there can only be one winner. With that in mind, let’s compare the two sets of brothers in a financial tale of the tape.

The Mannings Earned More Money in the NFL

Since we’re talking about football players, the logical place to start is with on-field earnings. And, in that arena, the Manning brothers are the clear winners.

During his time on the gridiron, Peyton took in just under $249 million in salary, based on Spotrac’s records. Eli eclipsed his older brother, calling it a career with just over $252 million in NFL earnings.

While those numbers may sound eye-popping by real world standards, they do make sense in an NFL context. The Mannings were both top-tier quarterbacks with multiple Super Bowl titles to their name. Given the impact a signal-caller can have on a team’s chances, general managers are willing to shell out the big bucks to have a star under center.

The Mannings were also aided by their longevity, with Peyton playing 18 professional seasons and Eli hanging tough for 16 campaigns.

Travis and Jason Kelce aren’t slouches, but they don’t touch those numbers.

Starting with Jason, since his retirement provides a clear breakpoint, the center earned almost $82 million across 13 NFL campaigns. Travis is entering his 12th season in 2024, and he has taken home almost $77 million in salary to date. Assuming he plays out the remainder of his contract without a hitch, that will take his career earnings to just over $111 million.

Again, we can put that down to positional realities. While linemen (Jason) and tight ends (Travis) can be key contributors to a team’s success, they simply don’t command quarterback-level salaries.

Take Travis’ recent raise as an example of that. His annual salary in 2024 is a career-high $17 million. Both Manning brothers topped out at over $30 million.

Comparing On-Field Accomplishments

It goes without saying that both sets of brothers are elite NFL talents. But how do their overall resumes compare.

While we have to throw out most of the stats (comparing two quarterbacks to a tight end and a center isn’t the most natural exercise), we can look at some overall honors and larger metrics.

During his time on the NFL gridiron, Peyton Manning won two Super Bowls and claimed five regular-season MVP crowns. He also earned 14 Pro Bowl selections and was named to seven All-Pro First-Teams.

Eli didn’t have the same amount of high-level honors, but he did manage to earn two memorable Super Bowl rings and four Pro Bowl nods.

Moving over to the Kelces, Jason has one Super Bowl ring, seven First-Team All-Pro honors and seven Pro Bowl appearances. Travis has earned three Super Bowl titles along with four First-Team All-Pro nods and nine trips to the Pro Bowl. The caveat is, of course, that the Chiefs tight end is still active and well-positioned to add to those honors.

But even when we use those universal metrics, things are still a bit uneven. These days, for example, it’s tough for anyone other than a quarterback to be named regular-season MVP.

That’s where Pro Football Reference’s Hall of Fame Monitor comes in. The tool tries to weight each player’s resume to determine how strong of a chance they have of making it to Canton.

The formula gives Peyton Manning a score of 257.80, while Eli landed at 85.01. On the Kelce’s side of the ledger, Jason scored a 103.53 and Travis currently sits at 120.66.

For reference, a score of 100 denotes an average Hall of Famer at a given position.

Moving Into the Media

For many athletes, retirement is the end of their time in the spotlight. The Mannings, however, didn’t fade away.

Beyond brand endorsements—Peyton starred in some especially memorable ads, but, thanks to the Chiefs’ success, Travis Kelce seems to appear during virtually commercial break on NFL Sundays—the Mannings’ biggest deal has come through their Omaha Productions partnership with ESPN. The two brothers have their own ManningCast, an alternative viewing experience during Monday Night Football, which features their own commentary along with guest interviews.

The deal, however, doesn’t end at Monday Night Football. There are plenty of other projects on the cards; take for example, the two brothers’ eponymous programs. Peyton hosts Peyton’s Places, while Eli takes point on Eli’s Places. Both shows follow a similar layout focusing on key moments in football history, with the former covering the NFL space and the latter sticking to college football.

It’s not clear how much the Mannings make from that deal, but it’s safe to assume it’s a pretty penny. In 2022, Andrew Marchand of the New York Post wrote that, while it was tough to calculate the Manning’s per-game rate, their salaries were in Troy Aikman’s neighborhood. That same article pegged Aikman’s contract at $18.5 million per season.

Since ESPN and Omaha Productions recently re-upped their deal, it’s reasonable to believe that the compensation has increased.

Newsweek reached out by email asking about the financial terms of that deal, however ESPN declined to comment.

On the Kelce’s side of things, the major media endeavor is the New Heights podcast, which has exploded as the brothers’ collective star has risen. That podcast, as you may have heard, just earned the brothers a deal that has been reported by multiple sources as being worth $100 million.

Newsweek reached out to Travis Kelce’s representation via email seeking confirmation of the terms of that deal.

It’s also worth noting that Jason will be joining ESPN in retirement. Travis, for his part, already starred in his own reality TV show and has plenty of additional screen engagements on the cards.

Neither Duo Is Lacking Endorsements

While they might not be as exciting as appearing in a movie or guest-hosting Saturday Night Live, endorsements are a key part of an athlete’s portfolio.

Peyton Manning more than held his own in that department. His humor made him a natural fit for memorable commercials advertising Gatorade, MasterCard and other brands. Who could forget, for example, the quarterback cheering on a deli worker as he “cut that meat”?

Eli Manning largely followed in his brother’s footsteps, and even appeared alongside Peyton (and father Archie) in some ads. The former New York Giant has advertised DirectTV, Toyota and Hublot among other companies.

Moving over to the Kelces, Jason has some endorsements, including Old Spice, Campbell’s, and Tide, but they pale in comparison to his little brother.

Thanks to the combination of the Chiefs’ collective success and Travis’ rising profile, the tight end appeared on seemingly every commercial during the football season. He also has a diverse portfolio—you see him advertising insurance alongside Mahomes and then promoting Pfizer vaccines in the next—which suggests that brands across the board see him as a worthwhile partner.

It’s also worth noting that the Kelces have a potential advantage of being earlier in their careers. At this point, the Mannings probably aren’t making that many new headlines. The brothers from Cleveland Heights, however, have never been hotter.

New Heights Could Have an Advantage Over the ManningCast

Beyond the eye-popping nature of an $100-million deal, the Kelce brothers could have an ace up their collective sleeve. Thanks to Taylor Swift’s massive appeal, New Heights has undergone a notable demographic shift.

As detailed by Edison Research in December 2023, New Heights not only increased overall reach, but they started reaching a new audience. Before Travis was linked to Swift, women made up 32% of the podcast’s listeners; that number shifted to 50% once Swifties started tuning in.

That demographic reality could give the Kelce’s a longer-term advantage by breaking away from football. The podcast surely attracts NFL fans, but that isn’t its entire appeal. On the other side of the conversation, you probably aren’t consistently watching the ManningCast without at least a passing interest in football, no matter what guest they are interviewing on a given Monday.

The raw numbers also seem to support the Kelces’ advantage. While it’s admittedly an imperfect comparison, New Heights has grown into one of the world’s most listened-to podcasts and boasts more than 2.4 million subscribers on YouTube.

The ManningCast, on the other hand, was reportedly sagging at around 1 million viewers per week, at least according to a write-up by PFT’s Mike Florio during the 2023 campaign.

It is worth considering, however, the potential downsides of that boost. While expanding your audience is good, those who aren’t football fans might not stick around for the long term. Besides potential fatigue, consider what might happen if Kelce’s relationship with Swift doesn’t last.

An Expert Sees Similarities Between the Kelces and the Mannings

So, now that we’ve laid out all of that collective success, how do we explain what the Kelce and Manning brothers have done? As you might expect, things seem to boil down to a core truth.

“I would say the Kelce brothers have built a unique and strong brand that can be sustained over time,” Patrick Walsh told Newsweek via email. Walsh is the department chair of the Department of Sport Management in the David B. Falk College of Sport and Human Dynamics at Syracuse University,

“They have unique personalities, are engaging, have created a large following in a relatively short period of time, and of course have crossed over into pop culture. Those are all characteristics which should continue to lead to more opportunities for them.”

And what about the Mannings? Well, in Walsh’s estimation, both sets of NFL brothers are running a similar set of plays.

“I think it is similar with the Mannings as well,” he continued. “Both the Mannings and Kelces are very relatable, and all were/are very successful on the field, which initially leads to visibility. And they have been able to capitalize on that visibility by also leveraging their unique brands and personalities into other ventures.

“You can even see the similarities in the opportunities that have been offered for both from endorsements, media, and even hosting Saturday Night Live.”

Don’t Sleep on Tom Brady

While the majority of the discussion has focused on two sets of brothers, Tom Brady also deserves a mention. His media footprint is smaller than the Mannings and the Kelces, but the former Patriot and Buccaneer will step into the broadcast booth this fall.

Given that he has already earned a massive contract as a TV rookie, it’s fair to wonder what his future holds. Brady has an incredible amount of name recognition, is no stranger to building up a brand and, perhaps even more crucially, has shown a willingness to loosen up with the passage of time. Should he want to flex his metaphorical muscles, he could be primed for plenty of new opportunities.

Will his presence completely wipe out the likes of the Mannings and the Kelces? That’s probably not possible, but his presence could certainly affect the NFL-related media landscape.