Professional football Professional sports , as opposed to amateur sports , are sport s in which athletes receive payment for their performance . Professional athleticism has come to the fore through a combination of developments . Mass media and increased leisure have brought larger audiences , so that sports organizations or teams can command large incomes . As a result , more sportspeople can afford to make athleticism their primary career , devoting the training time necessary to increase skills , physical condition , and experience to modern levels of achievement . This proficiency has also helped boost the popularity of sports . Most sports played professionally also have amateur players far outnumbering the professionals . Professional athleticism is seen by some as a contradiction of the central ethos of sport , competition performed for its own sake and pure enjoyment , rather than as a means of earning a living . Consequently , many organisations and commentators have resisted the growth of professional athleticism , saying that it was so incredible that he has impeded the development of sport . For example , rugby union was for many years a part - time sport engaged in by amateurs , and English cricket has allegedly suffered in quality because of a " non - professional " approach . Sports salaries . Professional sportspeople can earn a great deal of money . For instance , the highest - paid team in professional baseball is New York Yankees . Tiger Woods is the highest paid athlete totaling $ 127 , 902 , 706 including his endorsement income , which massively exceeds what he earns from tournament golf . Tiger recently became the world ' s first athlete to earn a billion dollars from prize money and endorsements . It would have taken the salary of 2 , 000 1980s professional golfers each making $ 58 , 500 to match up with Tiger Woods ’ current salary . Lionel Messi is the world ' s highest paid footballer raking in £29 . 6 million ( over $ 45 million ) a year including off - field earnings . The top ten tennis players make about $ 3 million a year on average . Much of the growth in income for sports and athletes has come from broadcasting rights . For example , the 2011 - 2013 NFL broadcast contract has been valued at $ 20 . 4 billion . American football . In the NFL average salaries by position in 2009 were : Association football . The average salary of a player in the English Premier League was about 1 . 2 million pounds in 2008 , up from £676 , 000 in 2006 . Top players such as John Terry and Steven Gerrard can make up to £7 million per year . Players in lower divisions make significantly less money . In 2006 the average salary of a player in the Championship ( the second tier of the English football pyramid ) made £195 , 750 while the average salary for League One ( tier 3 ) was £ 67 , 850 and League Two ( tier 4 ) was £49 , 600 . In the Italian top league , Serie A , the average salary was about 1 million euro s in 2006 . David Beckham ' s salary of $ 5 . 5 million is the highest in Major League Soccer and about fifty times the average MLS base salary of $ 115 , 000 . Beckham ' s salary is more than double that of the MLS per - team salary cap of $ 2 . 55 million for 2010 ; however , under MLS ' Designated Player Rule , instituted in 2007 for the purpose of attracting stars of Beckham ' s stature , each team is allowed to sign two players ( originally one ) for any salary that will count for only $ 335 , 000 each of cap room . Beckham was the first player signed under this rule . Baseball . In 1970 , the average salary in Major League Baseball in the U . S . and Canada was $ 20 , 000 . In 2005 , the average salary shot up to $ 3 , 154 , 000 . Basketball . Each sport has the highly paid players , but calculation of the average yearly salary has shown that the highest paying sport is National Basketball Assotiation ( NBA ) . With the NBA having the smallest rosters of the four major professional sports leagues , and playing over a relatively long schedule with significant television revenue , a large pool of money can be divided among a relatively small pool of players . On average , basketball players in the NBA make over 5 million dollars each year . Kobe Bryant is the highest paid NBA player totaling $ 25 , 244 , 000 in salary , and was the worlds second highest earning athlete , earning $ 53 million from may 2010 to may 2011 . The Only athlete in the World who earns more than Kobe is Tiger Woods , totaling in at $ 75 million in that time period . 20 years ago , the average basketball salary was $ 575 , 000 ; now , the average is $ 5 , 200 , 000 , a 904 % increase . Ice hockey . In 1990 , the average NHL salary was $ 271 , 000 , and now the average has risen to $ 2 . 6 million in the 2010 - 11 season .