Why do Football players earn so much money (and who earns the most!)*

The salaries pro athletes especially football players earn can be astronomical. And it’s not that we’re denying the skill, pressure and physical toll of participating in organised sports on such a level, but sometimes, these eye-watering numbers for, essentially, playing games for a living, can really defy comprehension.

Generally speaking, it’s naive to think that salary reflects the amount of work put in. We know that in the world of capitalism, that simply isn’t the case. There’s no denying that whether it’s football, American football, basketball, boxing or tennis, the biggest stars of these sports have a unique set of skills, coupled with superior physiology, that merit a corresponding level of compensation. But the same thing could be said of concert pianists, doctors or soldiers – and we also all know that while such professions require just as much unique physical and mental or creative skill, their take-home after tax doesn’t even resemble that of the Beckhams and Joshuas of this world.

So what is it about professional sports that allows their key players to swim in Bentleys and Rolex watches, while the rest of the us hard working grunts fear to check out bank statements every month?

Well, first and foremost – the basic driving forces of the economy are at play. Supply and demand, as well as the power of sports mania. Let’s consider the aforementioned doctor or concert pianist as examples. If you were asked to name some famous football players, even if you’re not into the sport, you won’t struggle to bring up names like Messi or Ronaldo or Rooney. Can you say the same for classical musicians or world-class surgeons? Highly unlikely. Moreover, everyone knows the size of the crowds that football matches – especially the high profile championships – bring in.

We’re talking about millions and millions of die hard fans all around the world. If it rests upon the shoulders of the very few to guarantee the avid attendance (not to mention people tuning in on their TVs at home) of customers on such a colossal scale – you better believe that these people are going to be compensated accordingly.

With such viewership exposure, of course in addition to their salaries and bonuses, top football players also get showered with brand endorsements. These sponsorships can range from athletic wear, to watches, to energy drinks. Just for the sake of wearing a recognisable logo on their uniform or lending their face to a single ad campaign, brands are willing to pay professional athletes very generous sums of money, for the mere fact that their success in the world of sport will boost their sales. Yo-yo Ma is one phenomenal musician, with international acclaim – but are you going to buy an energy boosting breakfast cereal with his face on it? Mass consumerism is all about judging a book by its cover and whether or not you believe that Michael Phelps actually uses Head & Shoulders is irrelevant – you associate the brand with that level of success.

It’s also important to remember that “there’s no ‘I’ in ‘team’” doesn’t apply to football. There is a very big, important ‘I’ and that’s the club owner. Sometimes it’s a corporation and sometimes it’s an individual, but the bottom line is that football players are not treated as people – they are very expensive assets. When a player is brought onto a team, the club owners are essentially making an investment – and said investment better bring in healthy returns.

Just as the spoils are phenomenal when the player performs well, consistent disappointment can take all those riches away just as quickly. Loyalty only goes as far as the victories obtained and all too easy for a player’s time in the sun to fade away very quickly. And let’s not forget that, as with any career that centres around physical ability, this is not a job that can be done well into your 60s, or in this case, even late 30s. A prima ballerina or tennis player has but a few short years to make their mark on the world before age or injury relegates them to choreography, teaching, mid-level book deals and Dancing with the Stars.

People like David Beckham or Roger Federer are the exception, not the rule – if they’ve been blessed by not only great results during their peak physical condition, but by good looks, killer agents, publicists (and smart wives), they continue to have a solid celebrity career long after their heyday is over, courtesy of modelling contracts, brand sponsorships, movie deals and lucrative collaborations

For the rest of those athletes, those huge paychecks they earn in their 20s will likely need to see them through for the rest of their lives – especially when you factor in the reality that committing yourself to world class physical achievement more often than not comes at the cost of getting a proper education and any other job-worthy skills. All too often, these young lads get swept up in the glitz and glamour of their 15 minutes, fail to make prudent investments and all too late realise that they’re going to NEED that spot on Dancing with the Stars (and that’s if they’re lucky to even get it!)

So for a sense of scale, who are the highest earning football players of all time? Top prize goes to the one and only Cristiano Ronaldo – the only billionaire football player out there. According to Forbes, his salary in 2021 alone was $125million! Obviously, we should mention Beckham, but since he retired from football in 2013, we’re focusing more on those still making earnings from playing the sport. Lionel Messi is the first runner up, with a fortune estimated around $400 million. Andres Iniesta is an impressive example of staying power, since he is in the top 10 of the top earning players of recent year AND all time, which for a player of his age is a fantastic achievement, raking in an annual income of over $30 million.

All in all, it’s fair to say that if PE teachers told their students the potential salaries of pro athletes instead of nonsense like “you need to be active and well-rounded to get into university”, a lot more kids would try their hardest at sports!