The Average Salaries of Professional Sports Announcers
Many people interested in sports and journalism consider working as a professional sports announcer. It is important for these people to research average annual salaries for this position to make sure it's financially feasible. It is also practical for them to examine the differences in wages based on the size of the employer, experience and if they have full-time contracts.
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General
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The median annual salary for a professional sports announcer ranges from $24,707 to $91,563. This equates to an average range between $8.13 and $40 per hour, according to Payscale.com in May 2010.
Benefits
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Most professional sports announcers earn an annual bonus between $1,200 and $4,913. In addition to this, 62.5 percent have 401k options through their employer. About half of professional sports announcers receive paid vacation days. About 38 percent earn life or disability insurance. About one out of four receives a cell phone from his employer.
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Location
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Typically, the larger the company for which a sportscaster is working, the higher his annual salary will be. The median salary for those working at stations that employed 10 or fewer people is $18,750 per year The average for those that employed 10 to 20 people rises to an annual salary of $23,135. When announcing for a station that has 21 to 30 workers, it is $29,460. The median annual salary is $43,700 for stations with 31 to 50 people and $91,250 per year for stations employing 51 people or more.
Experience
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The average annual salary for sportscasters with less than five years of experience ranges from $25,000 to $60,000. Once a sportscaster has more than five years of experience, however, the median salary ranges from $38,500 to $244,000 per year.
Contracts
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When working on network broadcasts without full-time contracts, the earnings for sports broadcasters can vary greatly. For example in the showing of the 1998 Olympic Games on CBS, Paul Robbins earned $3,500 for commentating on cross-country skiing. Jim Rippley, who had competed in the Olympics in the past for snowboarding, earned $5,000 from CBS but got a $10,000 bonus from Burton Snowboards, his sponsor. Some figure skating announcers, however, brought in the most, making up to $50,000 for their broadcast.
Top Sportscasters
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When broadcasters hold prominent positions in a network's sports lineup, they begin making serious money. Many bring in more than $1 million a year. Even play-by-play announcers and those who work as second-tier football announcers can bring in annual salaries ranging from $300,000 to $600,000. For example, James Brown, a Fox broadcaster, brings in about $1 million a year. Terry Bradshaw, a former NFL quarterback, signed a five-year contract with Fox for $2.2 million each year. Jim Nantz earns $2.5 million each year for broadcasting on CBS. John Madden, a former NFL coach, is one of the highest-paid sportscasters, earning between $6.5 million and $8.5 million each year working as a football analyst for Fox.
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References
- Photo Credit microphone image by Salem Alforaih from Fotolia.com
