What does soccer’s highest wage bill earn you? 6th place in the Premier League, apparently.
According to a yearly survey done by Sporting Intelligence, Manchester United currently has soccer’s highest wage bill.
The contracts also put Manchester United fourth on the all-sport wages list, with three American franchises ahead of them in the Cleveland Cavaliers, New York Yankees, and Los Angeles Clippers, ranked by average annual salary since roster sizes differ from sport to sport.
Interestingly, last year’s list featured seven soccer teams in the top eight, but those teams have plummeted thanks to Brexit which has shattered the value of European currency and instead brought American sports teams to the top of the list. Only Barcelona (5) and Manchester City (8) appear in the top 10 this year. An new NBA TV deal has also brought basketball teams towards the top, placing eight basketball teams in the top 12.
Looking at the highest paid soccer players, United currently dominated the top of the Premier League contract list with Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Wayne Rooney, and Paul Pogba three of the top 10 highest paid soccer players across the globe. Not surprisingly, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are joint-top of that list. No other Premier League players appear in the top 10 list, which is trumped by four La Liga players and three from the Chinese league, but the average annual Premier League salary is almost double that of Spain’s or Italy’s.
