Why MLB Players Get Paid More Than NFL Players?

          In this post, my goal is to explain why athletes get paid differently, depending on the Sport they play. In the article "Baseball, Not Football, Has the Super Salaries" by David Whitley, they compare the different salaries that the highest paid NFL and MLB players make. They make it clear the MLB players get paid significantly more and they go through the different reasons why. This post will prove why it is fair that the two sports get paid so differently.

Source: http://cdn.mos.techradar.com/art/logos/mlb_nfl_logos-470-75.jpg

The controversy of whether or not professional athletes get paid too much has been around for an extremely long time. Realistically, how could it not be concern with the amount of millions that are being handed to them. Although the money they are making is a concern, many people don’t realize the difference in salaries depending on the sport. How is it that NFL players play in stadiums that hold the most people out of most sports, but have smaller salaries than and MLB players? By finding out why some athletes get paid more in one sport than another can most likely lead me to find out the bigger picture, which is why athletes even get paid so much.

It is well-known that professional athletes have one of the highest paying jobs. But, why is it that depending on the sport that they play, their incomes greatly differ? In the article, Baseball, not football, has the super athletes written by David Whitley, he explains the difference in salaries between the two sports. The MLB has given out about 14 $100 million-plus contracts in the past two years. The NFL has given out 0 $100 million dollar contracts. $100 million dollars is money that people dream and drool over. In a more related picture, Whitley proves that the “average baseball salary is $3.3 million. The average NFL player makes $1.9 million” (Whitley). These numbers are still extremely high, but are at least a little more reasonable. People wonder, why there is such a large difference in these athletes salaries. Some may argue for the NFL and say that their sport has more to risk because they are constantly throwing their bodies and risking, therefore, they should get paid more. But, it’s not about the difficulty of the sport, it’s about how much income the sports team brings in and how much they can pay their players.

When all the math and facts come to a conclusion the answer is fairly simple as to why MLB players get paid more than NFL players. Managers want to pay their athletes as highly as they possibly can, and in order to do this they have to distribute their money properly. The NFL does bring in more money than the MLB does, but their is a large reason behind why their players don’t get paid as much. It is simply because the NFL has more players that they have to pay than the MLB. The NFL has around 22 starters (offense and defense), compared to the 9 starters that the MLB has. Also, the NFL has 2nd, 3rd, and sometimes even 4th string players that must get paid for sitting on the bench in case their is an injury! The MLB only have around 10 to 15 players that are on the bench or that are relieving pitchers. When comparing athletes, people to need to look at the surroundings and the amount of players getting paid in the sport to see how much money is available.