Is Baseball The Highest Paying Sport?
Is baseball the highest paying sport? This is a question that often comes up, and it’s one that is difficult to answer. There are a lot of factors that go into determining how much a player earns, and there is no one definitive answer. However, we can take a look at some of the factors that can influence a player’s salary to get a better understanding of how much they might earn.
Introduction
Baseball is often considered America’s pastime, and it’s no secret that many of the country’s top athletes earn a comfortable living playing the sport. But just how much do they rake in?
Forbes magazine releases an annual list of the world’s highest-paid athletes, and baseball players have consistently ranked among the top earners. In 2019, Los Angeles Angels outfielder Mike Trout topped the list with earnings of $43.5 million. But Trout isn’t even close to being baseball’s highest-paid player: that distinction goes to New York Yankees pitcher Gerrit Cole, who signed a nine-year, $324 million contract before the 2020 season.
Here are the 10 highest-paid baseball players for the 2020 season, according to Spotrac:
1. Gerrit Cole, $36 million
2. Zack Greinke, $34.4 million
3. Justin Verlander, $33 million
4. Max Scherzer, $31 million
5. Clayton Kershaw, $31 million
6. Miguel Cabrera, $30 million
7. Felix Hernandez, $27 million
8. Robinson Cano, $24 million
9. Joey Votto, $22 million
10. Chris Sale, $15 million
Highest Paying Baseball Teams
Is Baseball The Highest Paying Sport?
Yes, baseball is the highest paying sport. The average baseball player makes $3.2 million per year, which is more than the average for any other sport. The next highest paying sports are basketball and football, which both have an average salary of $2.1 million per year.
Highest Paying Baseball Players
The following is a list of the top 10 highest-paid baseball players for the 2019 season, according to spotrac.com. All figures are in United States dollars.
1. Clayton Kershaw – Los Angeles Dodgers – $33,000,000
2. Zack Greinke – Arizona Diamondbacks – $34,417,143
3. Justin Verlander – Houston Astros – $28,000,000
4. Max Scherzer – Washington Nationals – $28,137,649
5. Gerrit Cole – New York Yankees – $27,543,028
6. Matt Harvey – Los Angeles Angels – $26,837,500
7. Felix Hernandez – Seattle Mariners – $26,857,143
8. Chris Sale – Boston Red Sox – $15,499,999
9. Madison Bumgarner – San Francisco Giants- $12 000 000
10. Jon Lester – Chicago Cubs- $10 833 333
Conclusion
As can be seen from the data, baseball is not the highest paying sport. In fact, it is not even in the top three. The highest paying sport is basketball, followed by football and then baseball.
