# How are pro athletes paid?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-pro-athletes-paid/422625
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [October 13, 2007, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-pro-athletes-paid/422625 "2007-10-13T23:15:18Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)
#### Post date: [October 13, 2007, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-pro-athletes-paid/422625/1 "2007-10-13T23:15:18Z")
I’m only talking about the paycheck they receive from their team.
If a player is paid one million dollars per year, do they receive a check for one million dollars on January 1? Are they likely to be paid every other week or the 1st and 15th like most of the rest of us?
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### Author:  [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)
#### Post date: [October 13, 2007, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-pro-athletes-paid/422625/2 "2007-10-13T23:19:22Z")
Jeez I wish I could remember better. A friend of mine did some work where he came in contact with Laurence Taylor during his playing days. He saw one of his paystubs. IIRC he was paid monthly during the months of the season. I suspect it may be different between a sport like baseball and football. One has guaranteed contracts and the other does not.
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### Author:  [@Boozahol\_Squid\_P.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boozahol_Squid_P.I)
#### Post date: [October 14, 2007, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-pro-athletes-paid/422625/3 "2007-10-14T00:41:00Z")
[QUOTE=dalej42]
I’m only talking about the paycheck they receive from their team.
If a player is paid one million dollars per year, do they receive a check for one million dollars on January 1? Are they likely to be paid every other week or the 1st and 15th like most of the rest of us?
[/QUOTE]
Minor league baseball players (at least the ones playing for the Durham Bulls) get paid monthly. I would imagine that’s the case for pretty much all professional athletes. I know football players get paid per game (based on how salary penalties are imposed), but I can’t imagine they cut checks to the players weekly, but it’s a figure based on numbers of games they’re with the team.
It’s also important to note that the vast majority of players today make a large portion of their income off signing bonuses and not a regular salary. This is particularly true in football, where a player like Tom Brady makes about than $1M per year, but is averaging 10 million dollars a year based on his contract: most of the money was delivered up front. This is also a large reason why most football scandals (Ricky Williams, Mike Vick, and Travis Henry are perhaps the most recent and most notable examples of this) are accompanied by attempts of the team to recover large portions of money already paid out.
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### Author:  [@Rysto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rysto)
#### Post date: [October 14, 2007, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-pro-athletes-paid/422625/4 "2007-10-14T00:41:34Z")
I believe that NHL players get paid biweekly.
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### Author:  [@Moirai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moirai)
#### Post date: [October 14, 2007, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-pro-athletes-paid/422625/5 "2007-10-14T00:57:47Z")
A guy I know was playing for the St. Louis Cardinals, and he got a paycheck every two weeks for $220,000.
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### Author:  [@Autolycus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Autolycus)
#### Post date: [October 14, 2007, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-pro-athletes-paid/422625/6 "2007-10-14T01:57:31Z")
I believe they are paid with money.
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### Author:  [@Amp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amp)
#### Post date: [October 14, 2007, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-pro-athletes-paid/422625/7 "2007-10-14T02:19:09Z")
[QUOTE=EJsGirl]
A guy I know was playing for the St. Louis Cardinals, and he got a paycheck every two weeks for $220,000.
[/QUOTE]
Yeah but after taxes it’s only like $160,000.
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### Author:  [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)
#### Post date: [October 14, 2007, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-pro-athletes-paid/422625/8 "2007-10-14T03:10:40Z")
[QUOTE=Amp]
Yeah but after taxes it’s only like $160,000.
[/QUOTE]
_sob_
That’s, like, _three years’ salary_ for me…
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### Author:  [@fiddlesticks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fiddlesticks)
#### Post date: [October 14, 2007, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-pro-athletes-paid/422625/9 "2007-10-14T04:29:59Z")
NFL players are paid weekly, but only during the season. NFL contracts aren’t guaranteed either, so if you aren’t on a team’s 53 man roster, you don’t get paid. Players play almost for free in the postseason…during the playoffs, players get a check from the League, not the team. Football’s a tough business unless you hit the superstar plateau…
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### Author:  [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)
#### Post date: [October 14, 2007, 9:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-pro-athletes-paid/422625/10 "2007-10-14T09:10:26Z")
Lewis Moody (English rugby international) is probably paid in the region of £500,000 ($1,000,000) annually. (Watch for him in the World Cup final next weekend!)
He once asked his clubmates why his bank kept sending him letters. “It says here I have an outstanding balance.” :eek: 😕
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### Author:  [@Moirai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moirai)
#### Post date: [October 14, 2007, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-pro-athletes-paid/422625/11 "2007-10-14T14:28:00Z")
[QUOTE=Sunspace]
_sob_
That’s, like, _three years’ salary_ for me…
[/QUOTE]
Yeah. I remember at the time thinking that he could almost buy my house every freaking month…
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### Author:  [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airman_Doors_USAF)
#### Post date: [October 14, 2007, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-pro-athletes-paid/422625/12 "2007-10-14T14:46:54Z")
[QUOTE=fiddlesticks]
NFL players are paid weekly, but only during the season. NFL contracts aren’t guaranteed either, so if you aren’t on a team’s 53 man roster, you don’t get paid. Players play almost for free in the postseason…during the playoffs, players get a check from the League, not the team. Football’s a tough business unless you hit the superstar plateau…
[/QUOTE]
I know that you’re speaking of players relative to big-name players, because otherwise you will never be able to support that assertion. People who make the NFL generally have no debt from college and make more than the league minimum, which as of right now is a paltry $285,000. They also get free health care and become vested for a pension after only four years. That’s not even to mention the fact that they are playing a game for a living.
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### Author:  [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)
#### Post date: [October 14, 2007, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-pro-athletes-paid/422625/13 "2007-10-14T15:40:54Z")
[QUOTE=Airman Doors, USAF]
They also get free health care and become vested for a pension after only four years.
[/QUOTE]
The pension thing sounds good except for…
> [@](#):
>
> How long do most NFL careers last?
> **The average length of an NFL career is about 3 and a half seasons.** Although there are some exceptional players who have long careers that extend 10 or twelve seasons and beyond, most players only stay active for about three seasons. Players leave the game because of injury, self-induced retirement, or being cut by the team. This also means that while players may make more money than most people, they are only making it for an average of three and a half years. To make sure they are successful in the future, players must invest their money well and make plans for another career when they can no longer play football.
From the [Players Association](http://www.nflpa.org/Faqs/NFL_HopefulsFaq.aspx#3) website. A lot of players leave football without a pension and with health problems that last the rest of their lives.
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### Author:  [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airman_Doors_USAF)
#### Post date: [October 14, 2007, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-pro-athletes-paid/422625/14 "2007-10-14T15:59:53Z")
[QUOTE=Loach]
The pension thing sounds good except for…
From the [Players Association](http://www.nflpa.org/Faqs/NFL_HopefulsFaq.aspx#3) website. A lot of players leave football without a pension and with health problems that last the rest of their lives.
[/QUOTE]
That’s true. But the injuries that they sustain are no more or less severe than those of others who do not play football, they are just more likely to happen. Lots of people deal with ACL tears and concussions on much less than a quarter mil a year. At $60,000 a year, a very tidy sum, it takes more than 4 years to make what a player makes in a year. At 3.5 years a career that’s more than 12 years for middle-class Joe, dealing with potentially the same nagging and painful injuries.
Sorry for the diversion.
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### Author:  [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)
#### Post date: [October 14, 2007, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-pro-athletes-paid/422625/15 "2007-10-14T16:15:19Z")
[QUOTE=Airman Doors, USAF]
That’s true. But the injuries that they sustain are no more or less severe than those of others who do not play football, they are just more likely to happen. Lots of people deal with ACL tears and concussions on much less than a quarter mil a year. At $60,000 a year, a very tidy sum, it takes more than 4 years to make what a player makes in a year. At 3.5 years a career that’s more than 12 years for middle-class Joe, dealing with potentially the same nagging and painful injuries.
Sorry for the diversion.
[/QUOTE]
I would have to disagree. The way it was explain to me, playing in an NFL game is like being in multiple car crashes. Multiply that by however many years and add college and high school. I have ACL tears in both knees. I get around just fine. I grew up across the street from a guy who played a few season in the NFL (mostly on special teams and this was in the late 70s so his salary wasn’t great). He was crippled by his short career.
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### Author:  [@Tully\_Mars](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tully_Mars)
#### Post date: [October 14, 2007, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-pro-athletes-paid/422625/16 "2007-10-14T17:23:56Z")
[QUOTE=Loach]
I would have to disagree.
[/QUOTE]
I’ll join you in disagreeing. The ex-NFL players I’ve met have all shown conspicuous signs of crippling injurous. One that comes to mind was in his late sixties and he shuffled around when he walked. When I thought about how little he made when he played (I’m guessing in the late '50s), there was no way it was worth the money.
If you offered me a job making $300,00 - $400,000 a year to do those things to my body, I would turn it down in a heartbeat.
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### Author:  [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)
#### Post date: [October 14, 2007, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-pro-athletes-paid/422625/17 "2007-10-14T20:10:06Z")
I disagree as well. My nephew ([Joe Thomas)](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Thomas_%28offensive_tackle%29) is the left tackle for the Cleveland Browns, and he always says, “It’s not a question of if you get injured, it is a question of when.” Of course, he blew out his knee in college as well, for free (more or less).
[Mike Webster](http://espn.go.com/classic/obit/s/2002/0924/1435977.html) was a previous player from the University of Wisconsin (my alma mater, and that of my nephew) who was a center for the Steelers and All-Pro. He was concussed so often that he lost his mind and became homeless, dying in poverty. Pity - he got me interested in lifting weights by winning the “Strongest Man in Football” competition.
FYI, players receive a check every two weeks during the season, as mentioned before.
Regards,
Shodan
Go Browns!
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### Author:  [@missbunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/missbunny)
#### Post date: [October 14, 2007, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-pro-athletes-paid/422625/18 "2007-10-14T22:43:16Z")
I know someone who did the payroll for the Red Sox players and they got paychecks every 2 weeks just like everyone else. Only theirs were enormous.
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### Author:  [@Intelligently\_Designed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Intelligently_Designed)
#### Post date: [October 15, 2007, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-pro-athletes-paid/422625/19 "2007-10-15T00:33:47Z")
Crippled? Of course, just take a look at Earl Campbell or Dan Dierdorf. And how about dead? Life expectancy for pro football players is [55 years](http://archive.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2006/10/3/122610.shtml).
And like **Rysto** said, National Hockey League players are paid every two weeks. That’s during the pre- and regular season. Playoffs are “free”, except for personal contract incentives and winning bonuses.
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### Author:  [@Moirai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moirai)
#### Post date: [October 15, 2007, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-pro-athletes-paid/422625/20 "2007-10-15T00:55:42Z")
Yeah- I heard a a player describe it as getting in a car crash _on every play_.
Yowza. Count me out.
The baseball players I know all creak, in their 30’s. I can’t imagine what it’s like for football players.
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