It has always been said that soccer is the ‘king of sports’ par excellence, and in terms of global following there seems to be little doubt. But what about money?Football giants such as Real Madrid and Barcelona face off against ‘mega franchises’ or state clubs that often have almost infinite capital. At this point it is necessary to unravel the reality of these two worlds in order to obtain a final result that dictates the place of each one in this ‘battle’.
On many occasions, news arrives about an NBA or NFL super contract of the fashionable player that breaks with all the molds and that seems to dwarf the rest of opponents. However, things are not as they seem.
Little fan shades Travis Kelce infront of NFL Star
In fact, soccer, and Real Madrid in particular, can look down on almost every team in world sport. If we take a close look at the club’s economy, we find figures that are capable of competing with and beating anyone who stands in their way.
Salary battle
To sketch out the truth of both, we focus on finding four variables: total salaries, average salary, highest paid player and lowest paid player. Once each of these premises is answered, it is possible to find an answer.
We start with football. Barcelona, City, Arsenal and Real Madrid are a good representation of the European bourgeoisie whose accounts can say many things. Unlike American sport, they are not public, so they are approximate.
We find four giants of the ‘Old Continent’ with impressive numbers. However, Barca is, despite the improvement of the last two years, a step behind in terms of total salaries. Lewandowski and his ‘old-time’ contract, which has given Laporta so many headaches, emerges as the best paid according to Capology.
In the rest of the variables, Real Madrid is the most buoyant team on the continent ahead of City, although the two teams can boast almost parallel economies in terms of spending on players (transfers are another matter).
The NBA flexes its muscles
We now put on the table two of the most powerful franchises in the NBA to see where they stand with respect to soccer teams. Two very different worlds face to face.
At first glance, we find some notable differences. Both the average salary and the earnings of the highest paid player are higher than those of European soccer teams. The 48 million euros of LeBron and the 49 million euros of Brown bring closer to what basketball stars receive.
Interestingly, the Lakers have the James as the best and worst paid in the squad. The King’s son has a rookie contract worth just over one million after being selected at number 55 in the last draft. Dad, on the other hand, enjoys almost 50 million at 39 years of age.
Both the Lakers and Celtics have a lower overall spend than Real Madrid or City thanks to the ability to have a much smaller roster than a soccer team, which helps improve the salary of the rest of the players on the team.
The mighty NFL
The good situation of basketball in the United States does not reach the enormous popularity of American football. The NFL is a machine for generating audiences and filling huge stadiums every week. But it so happens that not even they can compete with their neighbors with the orange ball.
The NFL pays well. Very well. However, each franchise faces the handicap of having huge rosters. More than 50 players per team means that there is a big difference between the highest paid and the lowest paid, and it also reduces the average salary.
Mahomes and Jackson, probably the two leading quarterbacks in the competition, are not among the highest paid in the league, but they will be when it is time to renew with the Chiefs and Ravens. In fact, they are far from the $60 million that Dak Prescott just signed with the Cowboys.
However, this freehand drawing of these two teams shows how each NFL franchise moves economically with relatively low average salaries because of their endless rosters.
Baseball holds strong
MLB remains the traditional family sport in the United States, so its incidence is still very important.
In recent years, the phenomenon ofShoei Ohtani has emerged, who has just signed the highest contract in American sport with an amount of $70 million per season. However, his decision to defer payment until 2034 (he will receive only two million until that date) will allow his team (LA Dodgers) to continue signing top players.
NHL, out of the race
The NHL, on the other hand, is the little brother of the four major North American sporting spectacles. A quick look at the economic variables of the main teams shows that they are far behind the rest of the sports.
An average salary that stays at two million and stars that move around ten. Certainly, we are talking about a step (or two) below.
Finally, and in terms of comparisons, we find two cases that are a great exception in two minor leagues such as MLS and the Saudi league.
Cristiano, out of competition
The arrival of Leo Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo has caused such a big bombshell that it is necessary to address the situation of Inter Miami and Al-Nassr who enjoy a very particular economic situation.
We are dealing with the two most important phenomena of the 21st century and their contracts, logically, have to be adapted to that status. If we talk about Ronaldo, the figures are out of this world. 200 million euros a year for the Portuguese, which represents more than 60% of the team’s salaries. A contract that is out of the market for a legend that contrasts with the 90,000 euros received by his teammate Marran.
Messi, on the other hand, decided to say ‘no’ to the Arab money and start a new experience in the United States. His contract is by far the highest in the entire competition, but it is a long way from the brutality of his former arch-enemy and allows him to enjoy the company of his former Barcelona teammates such as Jordi Alba, Sergio Busquets and Luis Suarez.