1. Professional Athlete Salaries Presented by: Nick Bongiovanni

2. Salary Cap A salary cap is a limit on the amount of money that can be spent by the team on the athletes The “cap” can be a limit per player amount or even for the whole team Out of the 4 major sport’s leagues in the US, 3 of the 4 have a salary cap The 2 main reasons for the salary cap are: -parity between teams and control of costs

3. MLB Luxury Tax Tax that a team pays when they go over the “suggested amount” by the league More the team spends on players, the more they have to give back to the league Put in to “give all teams a fair chance to sign free agents” New York Yankees were fined with a $26,900,000 luxury tax in 2008

4. According to USA Today: The average player salary for each Professional League is as follows:

5. National Basketball Association (NBA) The minimum salary a rookie can make is $457,588 For every year of experience in the league, the minimum salary rises For example, someone in the league for 2 years is bound to make at least $825,497 The highest minimum stops at someone who has been in the league for 10+ years at $1,306,455 The highest paid player in the NBA is Kevin Garnett of the Boston Celtics at $24,751,934

6. Major League Baseball (MLB) The minimum salary for the MLB is $400,000 In the minors, the minimum salary is $65,000 The highest team salary in the MLB is that of the NY Yankees at $208,097,414 Opposite the Yankees, the Pittsburgh Pirates have the lowest payroll with $25,197,000 Alex Rodriguez is the highest paid MLB athlete making $33,000,000/yr

7. National Hockey League (NHL) The minimum salary for the NHL is $450,000 In the NHL there is a maximum for an “entry- level salary”, and that number is $900,000 In the 2004-2005 season the NHL had a “lockout” The highest paid NHL athlete is Dany Heatley who earns about $10,000,000/yr

8. National Football League (NFL) The minimum salary for a first year player in the NFL is $310,000 For someone who has been in the league for 10+ years the minimum salary is $845,000 The salary cap for the NFL was set at $127 million for the 2009 year Julius Peppers of the Carolina Panthers is the highest paid player in the NFL making $16.7 million/yr

9. Highest Money Makers (2009) according to SI’s “The Fortunate 50” $100 Million Man http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h7LcM1Ww 5Uc

10. Questions?