Manchester City of the English Premier League, world soccer powerhouses Real Madrid and Barcelona, and MLB’s New York Yankees and Los Angeles Dodgers lead this year’s list of the Top 100 best-paying sports teams in the world, according to data compiled for ESPN The Magazine and featured in its new “Money Issue,” hitting newsstands Friday.
The survey was compiled for ESPN The Magazine by SportingIntelligence.com, and encompasses 294 teams in 15 leagues, covering seven sports around the globe, comprising 8,663 athletes making a combined $16.15 billion in salary. The survey’s salary numbers are calculated from an average of base salaries among players, accounting for current or most recently completed team seasons and exclude bonuses, endorsements, appearance fees or any other source of extra compensation. For more on how data is compiled: https://es.pn/Q9GPDf.
The complete list of the Top 100 paying teams can be viewed here: https://es.pn/1etUqjL.
Additional points of note:
- For the second consecutive year, the EPL’s Manchester City spends the most, on average, per player at more than $8.1 million. Rounding out the top five are the Yankees, at $8 million; Dodgers, at $7.8 million; Real Madrid, at $7.6 million; and Barcelona, at $7.5 million.
- In terms of overall payroll, the Dodgers top the list. The team is projected to pay more than $241 million this season and has committed more than $995 million in salary through 2020, led by a $234 million investment in Clayton Kershaw.
- The Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks surprisingly land at No. 116 on the list of average spend per player, at just over $2.3 million, ranking behind 28 MLB teams, 13 EPL teams and all 30 NBA teams. The Seahawks rank No. 2 in the NFL, however, behind only the Minnesota Vikings.
- The Brooklyn Nets, under new owner Mikhail Prokhorov, spend about $6.8 million per player (ranking No. 6 overall), more than $700,000 higher than the league’s second-place team, the Chicago Bulls.
Also featured is an in-depth look at the top 25 paid athletes in the world: https://es.pn/1n8Tp3x:
- Five of the first 10 spots on the list — who earned on average, $32.5 million last year — are taken by NFL quarterbacks. [It is not “Money Mayweather,” whose two fights earned him a No. 1-ranked $73.5 million, but it’s living].Mayweather’s $73.5 million was an estimated $22 million more than the second-place finisher, Real Madrid’s Christiano Ronaldo.
- Serena Williams¹ 18th year on the WTA tour was her best ever. With a 78-4 record, 11 titles and French Open and U.S. Open wins, Williams earned almost $12.4 million, bringing her career total to over $54 million, far and away No. 1 in women¹s tennis history. The second highest-paid woman is fellow tennis player Victoria Azaranka, of Belarus, who made $6.5 million.
— 30 —
Media Contact: Carrie Kreiswirth, 860.766.6042, carrie.b.kreiswirth@espn.com
-
-
-
-
-
