Sports stars are professional athletes who generate billions of dollars per year through multiple forms of revenue. Thus, players are paid high salaries by their teams for their skills, personality and entertainment value. Moreover, each sport has many leagues with quite contrasting pay brackets for players. This article gives a brief overview of which sports league pays the highest salaries globally.
NBA
NBA generates huge sums of money yearly – from sponsorship rights to income generated from NBA odds. Basketball is the highest-paid sport in the world, with an average annual NBA salary in 2023 of nearly $10.5 million. The league has over 30 teams and pays the highest player salary of $48 million. Each NBA team plays 82 games during a regular season with players earning an average of $91,463 during each game. The average salary for players during the 2021-2022 season was $7.3 million. Furthermore, the highest top ten salaries during the past season were over $39 million, paid to superstars including Stephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors, LeBron James from the Los Angeles Lakers, and Kevin Durant from the Brooklyn Nets.
NFL
The NFL is second-placed for the highest global salaries. An increase in the salary cap for the 2023 regular season stands at $224.8 million, rising by around $20 million from the 2022 season. The Dallas Cowboys top the list of NFL teams with the highest payrolls, at almost $206 million. The league makes money from streaming and marketing deals, while NFL teams also generate income from TV contracts. Players earn a weekly salary during a season, with conditions often set regarding whether they play and their overall performance, and also receive bonuses outside their standard wage.
English Premier League
The prize money for winning the English Premier League (EPL) is among the highest in the football world, with $40 million the difference between the teams at the top and bottom of the table. By January 2023, the league was worth around $17.9 billion, while the net worth of rich owners of EPL clubs (including Manchester City and Chelsea) totals about $500 billion. Players in the league are the highest paid in any football league worldwide, with the average salary totaling around $3.9 million.
MLB
The Major League Baseball (MLB) payroll for 2023 is around $150 million, with the New York Mets having the highest payroll at over $336 million. Aaron Judge from the New York Yankees is the highest-paid outfielder in MLB with a salary of $40 million while Justin Verlander of the Mets JP is the highest-paid baseball player with a salary of over $43 million. The New York Yankees is the team with the highest brand value at $6 billion. Teams also generate large amounts of revenue from TV contracts, game attendance and merchandise sales.
NHL
Teams in the National Hockey League (NHL) generated $1.03 billion in 2022 – the first league with an average value of $1 billion. The league has been breaking records in revenue – including during the down economy. The New York Rangers are the most valuable team in the NHL, worth around $2.2 billion; an average NHL team is worth around $1.01 billion. Operating income for each team tripled to an average of about $25 million, and the minimum salary in the league is $750 thousand set by the Collective Bargaining Agreement between NHLPA and NHL. The average salary for players at the start of the 2022-2023 season is $3,196,767. Tyler Seguin receives the highest salary of $13 million, while only 82 players receive the minimum salary.
