Top 5 Highest Paid Sports Careers

The sports industry is growing in revenue and popularity amongst the masses. Today, any child in the US will confess to the desire to become an athlete. Having a paid sports career is the dream job, surpassing the need for 100 free spins no deposit casino offers on your account. However, to become a sports professional isn’t an easy fit. One has to undergo intense athlete practices and strategies, but with the intensity comes the reasonable payments.

Best Sports Careers

Professional paid sports are not only for athletes in soccer, football, basketball, and hockey. It also includes E-sports, Horse Racing, gymnastics, and many more. All players are legal athletes and can have the best or highest-paid sports careers globally. These sports careers include:

• Basketball Players
• Baseball Players
• Hockey Players
• Football Players
• Soccer Players

Basketball Players

Basketball-Reference, an online platform showing the latest basketball player contracts, indicates that their players will earn over $7 million in the 2020 to 2021 NBA season. The contract is binding and a guarantee: players receive their payment even if injured and fail to play during the season. It might seem the day’s career, but the players are subjected to rigorous routines, continuous travel, and weight training sessions. The aim is to ensure players retain good health and are in perfect playing condition since basketball is a fast-paced game.

Your expectations in picking basketball as a career should include regular game practice, individual skills improvement sessions, and quite a busy travel routine. The pay might be good, but the players do work for it. Earnings in basketball come from endorsements and game sponsorships companies or individuals. In the 2013 to 2014 NBA season, Kobe Bryant earned over $30 million when playing with the LA Lakers. In a single season, an average player can earn around $4.9 million.

Baseball Players

Major league baseball players come second as the highest paying sports career globally. On average, according to the St. Louis Post, a baseball player in the major league gets around $4.4 million in a season. The generous amount comes from the firm union representing baseball players. Also, like basketball players, a major league contract is a guarantee for the entire season, no matter the outcomes. However, the conditions are only for the major leagues. The minor leagues suffer lower pays.

The payment attributes to their rigorous and busy schedule when playing in Major League Baseball. Players have to demonstrate a high level of skill, strength, and above all, agility coupled with flexibility. According to NBC reports, the MLB season will have around 162 games. The number excludes playoffs making the season a busy one for the players. One has to have the endurance to work out the travel schedule. Also, Popular Science researchers believe that hitting a baseball is still the most complex task a player has on the field than in any other sports. Therefore, players have to practice and maintain the skills always without stopping.

Major League Baseball is the one constant sport whose careers keep growing, and salaries keep increasing even with the economic challenge. The sports players continue to receive more salaries in the last couple of years. Soon, baseball players may become the highest-paid sports career in the world if the trend continues surging higher and higher.

Hockey Players

Like the MLB and the NBA players, the national hockey league players also have a gruesome schedule when playing in the NHL season. The ice hockey games are physically taxing and may require a combative stance. The NHL highlights that the season will have around 82 games, similar to basketball seasons, but additional playoffs are omitted. Therefore, players may want to exercise more endurance, strength, and higher energy levels while on the ice.

Statista reports the average salary for hockey players to be around $1.54 to $3.32 million. The numbers are a little lower than basketball and baseball due to the number of players on the list counting to 23. Also, players and team owners split any earnings from the NHL half-half. The main reason is that NHL does not attract more revenue as it is not as popular as basketball and baseball. But, some of the players do earn more than others. For instance, Shea Weber, a player for the Nashville Predators, collects over $14 million in a single year.

NHL contracts do not offer players a guarantee when playing in the season. Compensations are dependent on the national hockey league or local league that owns the player. The SB Nation Pension Plan Puppets indicates that players playing for EHCL only receive around $100 or more in a week, while those playing for the AHL receive $100,000 or more in a single year.

Football Players

Statista averages an NFL National Football League player salary at $2.05 to $4.71 million in the year 2019 to 2020 season. Even though it is the most popular sport in the United States, it has the lowest payment levels for players considering expected injuries from the game. The team has 53 players in total, and any earnings have to cut across the players, coaches, and owners. Also, the contracts are only valid for the one season in the NFL. Sports Illustrated indicate that teams cut players whose skills are no longer up to par, cutting short their careers. Plus, players do not get compensation from the league or owners if cut out.

ESPN averages the lifespan for a National Football League player to be around 3.3 years. The reason is that many players suffer significant physical damage and continuously need medical attention for physical therapy and, often enough, brain injuries. The injuries result from the physical collisions experienced in the game. Players have to exercise a level head and develop a winning strategy to match the various situations team members may find themselves in. It’s like when playing with the best online casino bonuses; one has to exercise patience and develop a strategy to earn him more winnings. Football players follow a similar principle.

Soccer Players (FA Premier League)

Not so popular in the United States but famous in Europe, soccer provides adequate payers, with the average salary being around $1.6 million. The FA Premier League is the most popular in the soccer game seasons, and the reference in the article. For instance, Wayne Rooney received around $19 million in payments when playing for Manchester United in 2019. The higher amount is because soccer players are only 11 in a single team; the teams receive endorsements and sponsorships from big companies and influential people.

Clubs provide players with binding contracts and a guarantee regardless of an injury. Also, players have to keep up with regular aerobic exercises since the game is fast-paced and involves running from one point to another continuously for more than an hour. In the US, players in the Major League for Soccer receive $290,000 to $758,000, according to Statista in 2019.

Summary

Sports paid careers are some of the highest-paying jobs in the world. A basketball player can receive an average of $4.9 million, which is more than expected for any one person. It shows that building a career in sports is an advisable move for individuals. However, one has to keep up with the rigorous routines without complaints. The highest-paid sports careers do come with potential sacrifices.