Why does american football pay so little?

[Pokerjoe]

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/news/story?id=6354899

Obviously soccer is going to pay the best, and it isn't surprising that MLB and NBA pay well, too. But cricket? There are cricket teams that pay better than the NFL? The Delhi Daredevils pay better than the Washington Redskins?

I guess it's because American football is just a domestic competition, and without international exposure it will always be minor league.

Also, maybe it's because the season is fairly short, especially if measured in games played, not weeks played.

And the rosters are large, I think that's got to be a big factor.

Still, it's surprising to me.

[Domer]

....that's why they're on strike right now

[ttwarrior1]

lmao at pay so little,

[SEAHAWKHARRY]

Dude..the reason theres no international play is...theres no competition out there...The superbowl is the most watched sporting event in the world....The NFL is the Greatest sports entity in the world..soccer has most fans because its a third world sport..majority of fans live in dirt floor houses and shit and piss in the same river as they do laundry...they wear soccer gear that was given to them by the Red Cross....lmao...hahhahaha...hehehehe

[dabomguy11]

I'd have to say that it is because of the fact that there are 53 members on an NFL roster, while an IPL roster has 20, at least the team I checked. While there are the guys on each NFL team who make 8 figures a year, there are also many who make 6 figures. It has nothing to do with being domestic. You can't just look at numbers and make assumptions.

[king]

When did a millions dollars become little. They first of all have a nice job that can get them shoe contract, movie deal, commercial deals, and endorsement for many product. Just look at Tiger Woods most of his money came from endorsement not just goal itself.

As for soccer player they don't get the best money deal only the high profile names do and that's like 10-15 of them out of thousands.

[Domer]

nfl players get paid a pittance compared to the revenue that the league takes in

additionally they have very little job security (can be cut at any time).

the NFL is a terrible league if you're a player, thats why multi-sport stars tend to drift towards a higher paying sport like baseball.

[marcoloco]

millions even 100's of thousands to go run on a field tackle a guy and work out is a good job. physically i have worked harder than that for a fraction of that money.

[LLXC]

They pay so limit because

a) HARD cap
b) players don't last long - rarely any LONG term deals
c) all the $ goes to goddamn 1st round picks

[spongerat]

lots of misconceptions on NFL pay. Most players recieve minimum wage for the NFL which is 300,000 for anything past the top 15 of so rookies and higher the longer you're in the league veterans get twice or three times that much. There is no STRIKE, its a lockout which is the opposite of a strike. And its not over low pay, its actually the opposite. The high salaries of the big name players greatly skews the average salary stats. Source: I'm an IP attorney that does work in the sports and entertainment field and I'm getting my LLM where my sportslaw professor is a big name NFL agent in New England.

[ApricotSinner32]

They play 16 games compared to 162 in bases. Yes football is much more grueling on the body but still.

[rem sleep]

Most of sports revenue comes from TV advertising and sponsors. WAAYYYY more people watch Soccer than Football. And the Superbowl may very well be the highest watched program in America but there are at least 2-3 Soccer games every year that get higher ratings than the Superbowl.

Soccer also has broader appeal which is why its played in practically every country.

[gryfyn1]

they don't get paid a pittance -- players directly receive about 40% of all revenue.

and the average salary seems small because they rosters are so large and uniform.

[k13]

# of players brings down averages.

Take some stats, econ classes.

Why don't you go by total team payroll?????

[HotStreak]

If you were buying a car, and knew that it would probably be broken down and useless in 3 or 4 years, how much would you pay for it?

[pepper60000]

because 90% of NFL players are replacable. And too many injuries....

[Domestic]

They already get paid far more than they deserve so I have no sympathy for them.

[Pokerjoe]

http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/general/others/american-football-strike-looms-in-dispute-over-nfls-1639bn-spoils-2242925.html

Here's another look at American football and money. It's an excellent summation of the background to the looming strike, too.

The NFL is the richest league in sports. That isn't reflected in average salaries for reasons we've mentioned.