NBA vs NFL average player salary: Which league delivers bigger paychecks?

Top American sports leagues have seen a major increase in revenue over the past few years. Media rights deals, ticket and merchandise sales along with sponsorship deals has seen teams earn a pretty profit. The result of that has been ever increasing player salaries with NBA and NFL players topping the charts.

For much of the past two decades, NBA players dominated the earning charts. A prime reason is the higher salaries are due to the ever-increasing global footprint the sport enjoys. Another reason is that a basketball team comprises of fifteen players at the most.

On the other hand, NFL teams feature fifty-three players on their game day roster, with an additional few on their practice squad. That means, there is a smaller share of the salary cap pie, which leads to smaller paychecks.

However, at the top of the cue, football superstars are throwing punches of their own. Salaries have come closer to competing with their NBA counterparts. The new highs help balance out the lows and with the massive increase in salary caps over the past two years, the averages have come up.

NBA vs NFL average salary

As mentioned above, the average NBA team employs fifteen players. They may have a few two-way contracts as well as some 10-day ones. But for the sake of this table, let us work with the fifteen that are paid for the season and the 53 on a game-day NFL roster.

The salary cap for the 2024-25 season was set at $140.588 million. This is just the base cap, and teams can go up to $188.931 million, which is where they face the dreaded 2nd Apron. In comparison, the NFL teams had to work with the $255.4 million the league assigned.

	NBA	NFL
Average salary	$10.5 million	$2.8 million

Even though NFL teams enjoy a 35% higher cap, the average player earns nearly one-fourth of what an NBA player takes home. This gap is down to multi factors. One is definitely the 53-man roster that makes it difficult for rotational players to make much.

On the other hand, injuries and influx of a lot of standout prospects every season makes it difficult for NFL players to hold a position. Therefore, teams are able to find cheaper solutions, whereas in the NBA, it is harder to find good players who can help the squad, which drives prices up.

That demand and the steady but healthy increases in their salary cap is helping good NFL players earn a lot. For instance, Tom Brady played twenty-three seasons whereas Kirk Cousins has played just thirteen in his career. The demand for good QB’s has seen the latter earn as much as Brady did in his career.

NBA vs NFL top salaries compared

The average salaries show the wage gap is massive. The gap narrows when comparing top players from both leagues. However, the average number of players earning top dollar in the NFL is restricted to quarterbacks.

	NBA		NFL
Jaylen Brown (BOS), SF	$57,078,728	Dak Prescott (DAL), QB	$60,000,000
Nikola Jokic (DEN), C	$55,224,526	Joe Burrow (CIN), QB	$55,000,000
Stephen Curry (GSW), PG	$53,838,416	Lamar Jackson (BAL), QB	$52,000,000
LeBron James (LAL), PF	$50,677,999	Patrick Mahomes (KC), QB	$45,000,000
Anthony Edwards (MIN), SG	$48,924,624	Kirk Cousins (ATL), QB	$45,000,000
Kevin Durant (PHX), SF	$48,554,830	Aaron Rodgers (NYJ), QB	$37,500,000

Top superstar non-QBs earn much less, and their paychecks are comparable to second or third option basketball stars. For instance, Ja’Marr Chase has just surpassed the $40 million threshold for a non-QB after consistently elite performances over the past four seasons.

Fred VanVleet has made it to the All-Star roster once but earns nearly $43 million as the third or fourth option on the Houston Rockets. Fringe basketball players earn more than top NFL non-QBs as can be seen below.

	NBA		NFL
Zach LaVine (SAC), SG	$43,031,940	Justin Jefferson (MIN), WR	$35,000,000
Fred VanVleet (HOU), PG	$42,846,615	CeeDee Lamb (DAL), WR	$34,000,000
Michael Porter Jr. (DEN), SF	$35,859,950	Nick Bosa (SF), DE	$34,000,000
Jrue Holiday (BOS), PG	$33,600,000	Penei Sewell (DET), RT	$28,000,000
Jordan Poole (WAS), SG	$32,000,000	Brian Burns (NYG), OLB	$28,200,000
Isaiah Hartenstein (OKC), C	$29,000,000	Patrick Surtain II (DEN), CB	$24,000,000

As is evident above, a player such as Isaiah Hartenstein, the fifth or sixth best player on the Oklahoma City Thunder earns more than the best tackle, outside linebacker and defensive back as of last season. Those NFL players might make it to the Hall of Fame, but Hartenstein might not even dream of that.

From these tables, it is evident that other than a few instances, the average NBA player earns a lot more than their NFL counterpart. Unfortunately for them, the gap might not reduce considering NBA teams will earn a significant amount from the new media rights deal.

NBA vs NFL player endorsement deals

Salaries are the first paychecks players receive. But over the course of their careers, they will also get the opportunity to earn endorsement deals. Top NFL players earn a pretty penny as can be evident from the multitude of deals Patrick Mahomes and others enjoy.

Those though, do not hold a candle to what LeBron James, Steph Curry and others in the NBA earn. This is the reason basketball stars fill out the annual top earning athletes list. One example that can be used to drive the point home is with regards to Jayson Tatum.

James, Curry and all have been there for a long time, therefore comparing them will not make sense. But Tatum has never been considered as big a superstar as either of them. Even then, the NBA’s CBA enabled him to earn a $315 million deal which starts next season.

What makes it even more jaw dropping is that he will not touch his salary. Instead, his endorsements are enough to live a luxurious life up until at least he retires. The man is all of 27 years old. Which means, his endorsements are enough to fund at least ten seasons more. That alone is absurdly unfair to NFL athletes.