Professional sports are a big business in the United States. Studies indicate that the North American sports market will exceed $83 billion by 2023. Due to the financial success of America’s top sports leagues, athletes who manage to establish themselves in a professional capacity have the opportunity to sign lucrative contracts. As a point of reference, the income of the median American household was approximately $67,521 in 2021.
The National Football League (NFL) is the most popular sports league in the United States. With 55 game-day roster spots and 32 franchises, the NFL is also one of the largest sports leagues in the US based on the total number of athletes, at 1,760.
Prior to the start of the 2022 NFL season, individual contracts had an average value of $2.7 million per year. Of course, this amount can vary significantly from one player to the next. For instance, quarterbacks in the NFL average about $7 million per year, more than 2.5 times the average contract for non-quarterbacks. Wide receivers, the second-highest-paid players by position, average yearly salaries of roughly $2.8 million.
Deshaun Watson is the highest-paid player in the NFL for the 2022 season. He signed a contract worth $230 million with the Cleveland Browns in March 2022, which will carry him through the 2026 NFL season. It should be noted that most athletes spend just 3.3 years in the NFL, on average. Furthermore, NFL contracts are rarely guaranteed in full and may be adjusted or rescinded based on several factors, including on-field performance and overall health.
Despite being the most popular professional sports league in the United States, the NFL does not provide athletes with the industry’s most lucrative contracts. LeBron James cemented himself as the highest-paid athlete in the history of the National Basketball Association (NBA) by signing a two-year extension with the Los Angeles Lakers ahead of the 2022-2023 NBA season. The two-year deal is worth $97.1 million, which will see his career earnings approach $530 million.
James’ annual salary of more than $48 million falls just shy of an NBA record. The largest contract in league history, for the highest annual salary, was also signed in the summer of 2022. Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic signed a five-year deal valued at $270 million, or about $54 million per season.
While these figures represent the high end of the spectrum, the average NBA player makes far more than the average NFL player, with the typical NBA player making $8.5 million over the course of the 2021-2022 season. There are countless rules dictating the value and nature of NBA contracts, but generally speaking, contracts are at least partially guaranteed.
Professional athletes have fewer opportunities in regard to roster spots with the NBA. Franchises can have up to 20 players on their off-season roster, but must cut back to 15 players once the season begins, for a total of just 450 roster spots on 30 teams. On the other hand, NBA players tend to enjoy longer careers than NFL players, with an average playing career of about 4.5 years.
