The most comprehensive answer I have seen to date on the what do the other than first place teams get on TAR, from nbcnews.com. The most surprising statement is the huge appearance fee for Romber -- has anyone seen this confirmed anywhere else as it seems to be Romber was lobbying so hard to appear on the show CBS shouldn't have had to pay them a dime:"Q: Do second place winners on “The Amazing Race” receive any type of prize? —Sonja, Massachusetts
A: They do, as do cast members on CBS’ other reality show, “Survivor.” How much they receive is a bit of a mystery. We asked CBS, and a spokesperson said the network does not confirm prize amounts, comparing them to one’s salary.
On “The Amazing Race,” as with other competition shows, contestants are paid on a sliding scale based upon how they place in the competition. (These dollar amounts don’t include things the show pays for, such as the vacation the losers get sent on.)
As TARflies Times excellent TAR FAQ notes, Aaron from “The Amazing Race 6” reported on Television Without Pity that teams receive the following payments, which of course they have to split with each other:
Winner, $1,000,000
Runner-up, $25,000
3rd $10,000
4th $7,000
5th $6,000
6th $5,000
7th $4,000
8th $3,500
9th $3,000
10th $2,500
11th $1,500
This isn’t necessarily unchanging; there may have been different prizes for the family edition, for example. And Aaron said that Rob and Amber received $500,000 just to appear on the show’s seventh season.
On “Survivor,” contestants receive considerably more. The winner gets $1 million, and of course, he or she doesn't have to share with a team. The runner-up gets $100,000, which is why Jeff Probst often tells the runners-up that they made a $900,000 mistake. The person who comes in third receives $85,000, as “Survivor Guatemala” third-place contestant Rafe has confirmed in several interviews since last week’s finale.
The first person voted off receives $2,500, although on the all-star edition, Tina reportedly received 10 times that, $25,000, for coming in last place; presumably, the other returning cast members were also given larger prizes (first prize was still a million dollars, though). There were also multiple reports that for coming in eighth on the first season, Jenna received $27,500. And we learned from Richard Hatch’s tax woes that, for appearing on the reunion, contestants each receive $10,000.
Wikipedia’s (anyone-can-edit, read-with-caution) page on Survivor breaks down the other prizes as follows, and while all of their numbers jibe with the ones we know for sure, the others aren’t as heavily confirmed.
Winner, $1,000,000
Runner-up, $100,000
3rd, $85,000
4th, $70,000
5th, $55,000
6th, $45,000
7th, $35,000
8th, $27,500
9th, $20,000
10th, $15,000
11th, $10,000
12th, $7,500
13th, $5,500
14th, $4,500
15th, $3,500
16th, $2,500 —A.D."
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