How to Find Out Salaries in Pro Sports

In 1930, the biggest news in pro sports was Babe Ruth's contract, which paid him more than the President of the United States. Ruth famously replied “Why Not? I had a better year than him.” Now even the lowest paid pro athletes earn almost as much as the President. Salary management has become one of the most important aspects of pro sports. With a little research online you can find out how much your favorite teams pay players.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

1. Visit USA Today on the Internet, click on sports, locate the "Scores and Essentials" tab and go to the "Salaries database” link.

2. Select the sport you want to find salaries for.

3. Find a team’s list of salaries by choosing the team and the year you want information on. The database goes back to 1988. Browse previous years to see how much salaries in pro sports have changed.

4. Learn an individual player’s salary history by entering his name or by using the alphabetical reference.

5. Choose a sport and sort by total payroll to see what teams spend the most on payroll.

6. Go to ESPN and search for an athlete’s name. The athlete’s salary will appear in the heading information of his ESPN Player Card. Compare the player’s salary to his statistics to see if he is earning his pay.

Tips & Warnings

• The salary information displayed is the salary the players receives, but not necessarily how much the team is paying that player. Sometimes when a player is traded, another team will continue to pay part of his salary as part of the agreement.
• An injured player still receives his full pay, but the team may receive all or part of his salary from an insurance company.

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