The Average Pay in Professional Sports

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These 20 jobs pay at around the average salary.

Average Salaries of the Major Sports

Highest Paid Players

Basketball

Baseball

Football

Ice Hockey

We work our butts off at least eight hours each day, five days a week, from the time we graduate from college until we retire when we reach our 60s. And what do we get out of it? Maybe a modest home, probably a decent car, plus a little savings to help our kids with their college tuition. And the sad part is that your kid is bound to repeat the same cycle. He will spend several years after graduation trying to pay off his college loan, before spending the next two years trying to meet mortgage for his car and home.

The average American salary is $32,390 a year. Compare that to the average salary of a professional basketball player in the NBA of $5.2 million a year. Of course, an average player can play around seven to ten years only. Still, at this rate, you will need to work more than 160 years before you can match the salary for one year of a basketball player.

These 20 jobs pay at around the average salary.

1. Forest and Conservatin Technicians

2. Floor Sanders and Finishers

3. Medical Transcriptionists

4. Electronic Home Entertainment Equipment Installers

5. Automotive Glass Installers

6. Printing Machine Operators

7. Semiconductor Processors

8. Dental Assistants

9. Parking Enforcers

10. Structural Metal Fabricators

11. Loan Clerks

12. Accounting Clerks

13. Log Scalers

14. Metal Casters

15. Engine Assemblers

16. Opticians

17. Broadcast Technicians

18. Jewelers

19. Meter Readers

20. Painters and Maintenance Workers

On the other hand, you may want to aim high and go for the highest paying regular jobs, such as:

1. Doctors and Surgeons - $234,950

2. Dentists and Orthodontists - $204,670

3. Chief Executive Officer - $176,550

4. Petroleum Engineer - $138,980

5. Lawyer - $130,490

6. Architectural and Engineering Managers - $129,350

7. Natural Science Manager - $128,230

8. Marketing Manager - $126,190

9. Computer and Information Systems Manager - $125,660

10. Industrial Psychologist - $124,160

11. Financial Manager - $120,450

12. Pilots - $118,070

13. Sales Manager - $116,860

14. Air Traffic Controller - $114,460

15. Pharmacist - $112,160

Even the salary of the most renowned doctor pales in comparison to that of an average NBA player. It will take the doctor more than 22 years before he can match the salary for one year of a basketball player with average NBA talent. Of course, this is even worsened by the thought that it takes a doctor several years of top-class education and training before he can start earning that figure. A basketball player probably muddled through high school and maybe spent a year or two of college before he starts earning ridiculous amounts playing a sport he has loved since he was a kid.

Average Salaries of the Major Sports

North America has four major sports, namely basketball, baseball, football and ice hockey. Golf and tennis are two of the biggest individual sports. The average salaries for these sports are:

Basketball (NBA) - $5.2 million
Baseball (MLB) - $2.5 million
Football (NFL) - $1.75 million
Ice Hockey (NHL) - $1.3 million
Men’s Golf (PGA) - $0.973 million
Women’s Tennis (WTA) - $0.345 million
Men’s Tennis (ATP) - $0.260 million
Women’s Golf (LPGA) - $0.162 million

To ensure that the major team sports stay competitive with the salaries of the players not running wild, salary caps have been implemented. Huge penalties are imposed to those who go over the cap. The caps per league are as follows:

MLB - $178 million
NFL - $120 million
NHL - $70.2 million
NBA - $58.04 million

Of course, it can also be argued that the leagues of these major sports bring in billions of dollar in revenue. It is therefore just right that the players earn substantially from it as they serve as the league’s products that are sold to the public. Yearly revenues of the major sports are as follows:

NFL - $9 billion
MLB - $7 billion
NBA - $3.8 billion
NHL - $2.9 billion

Highest Paid Players

The leagues’ selling points are its marquee players. They are the ones that earn the huge bucks because they are also the ones that ring in the cash register in terms of tickets, advertising and merchandise. The highest paid players by sport are as follows: