Professional sports are sports where an athlete receives a payment for their athletic performances. Increased leisure and the media have brought bigger audiences to sports which have resulted in sports teams or organization commanding large incomes. This has resulted in many athletes being able to have athleticism as their primary career where they can devote time necessary for training in order to increase physical conditions, increase skill and achieve goals set out before them. This expertise has help increase the popularity of sports. Most professional sports have counter parts called amateur players that outnumber the professionals. A professional athlete may be able earn a lot of money. An example is the professional sport of baseball with the New York Yankees (the highest paid team). The highest earning professional player, which is Tiger Woods, earns over a hundred million in endorsements alone. Some other professional athletes make:
American Football NFL average salaries in 2009
- $1.970 million-Quarterback
- 1.224 million-Defensive Tackle
- 957,360-Running Back
Association football
- 1.2 million pound-Average salary for a English Premier League player in 2008.
- Frank Lampard and John Terry make up to £7 million pounds each year.
Baseball
- Average Major League Baseball salary was over 3 million in 2005.
Basketball
- The highest paid player in the NBA, Kobe Bryant makes over 20 million.
- Kevin Garnett had the NBA largest salary of over 22 million, excluding endorsements.
Cricket
The highest salaries were amongst the Indian Premier League with about 1.5 million over a 45 day duration.