Who Makes More Money: Football or Baseball?

We compare the average salaries of NFL and MLB players to see which league pays its players more.

Introduction

It is widely accepted that professional football players make more money than professional baseball players. However, this is not always the case. In some instances, baseball players can make more money than football players. This often depends on the specific player’s contract, their level of experience, and their performance.

Salary Cap in Football vs. Baseball

In general, NFL teams have a harder time retaining their best players than MLB teams. This is due to the salary cap in football, which puts a hard limit on how much each team can spend on player salaries. In baseball, there is no salary cap, so teams can theoretically spend as much as they want on their players. As a result, the best baseball players tend to stay with their teams for longer periods of time than the best football players.

Average Player Salaries in Football vs. Baseball

The average player salaries in baseball have always been higher than football. In 2019, the average player salary in baseball was $4 million. The average player salary in football was $2.7 million. The gap between the two sports has been narrowing in recent years, but baseball has always had the edge when it comes to player salaries.

One reason for this is that baseball contracts are often guaranteed, while football contracts are not. In baseball, a player’s salary is often based on their service time, meaning that the longer they’ve been in the league, the more money they make. In football, salaries are largely based on production, meaning that players who perform well can command higher salaries. However, if a player underperforms or gets injured, their salary can be significantly reduced.

Another reason that baseball players make more money on average is that there are more positions in baseball than football. In baseball, there are nine positions on the field (pitcher, catcher, first baseman, second baseman, third baseman, shortstop, left fielder, center fielder and right fielder). In football, there are only 11 (quarterback, running back, wide receiver ,tight end , offensive lineman ,defensive lineman ,linebacker ,cornerback ,safety and special teams). This means that there are more opportunities for baseball players to get paid compared to football players.

Players also make more money in baseball because the sport generates more revenue than football. In 2019, MLB generated $10 billion in revenue while the NFL generated $13 billion. However, when you compare those numbers to how much each sport generates per game played, MLB generates $620 million per game while NFL generates $560 million per game . This means that each MLB team has more revenue to spend on player salaries than each NFL team does.

The bottom line is that MLB players make more money on average than NFL players because of guaranteed contracts ,more positions available and higher revenue generated by the sport.

Revenue Sharing in Football vs. Baseball

In general, professional football teams generate more revenue than baseball teams. In 2015, the NFL generated $12.4 billion in total revenue, while MLB generated $9.5 billion. However, when it comes to the distribution of that revenue, baseball actually does a better job of sharing its riches among its teams. In 2014, the MLB distributed $1.83 billion in revenue sharing, whereas the NFL only distributed $1.2 billion.

Luxury Tax in Football vs. Baseball

In football, the luxury tax is a salary cap mechanism that was implemented in 2002. It was designed to slow the dramatic increase in player salaries that was occurring at the time. The tax works by charging teams a penalty for every dollar they spend above a certain threshold. The money collected is then distributed evenly among all teams.

In baseball, the luxury tax is a revenue sharing mechanism that was implemented in 1997. It was designed to increase parity among teams by redistributing money from the richer teams to the poorer teams. The tax works by charging teams a penalty for every dollar they spend above a certain threshold. The money collected is then distributed evenly among all teams.

So, which sport has more parity: football or baseball? That depends on how you define parity. If you measure it by comparing the payrolls of the richest and poorest teams, then baseball is more parity because the payrolls are much closer together. If you measure it by comparing the amount of money each team spends on players, then football is more parity because the amount each team spends is much closer together.

Conclusion

After analyzing the data, it appears that football players make more money on average than baseball players. While there are a few outliers, such as Alex Rodriguez and Albert Pujols, who make significantly more than the average football player, the majority of baseball players make less than the average football player.