Top-Paying Sports for Athletes in 2025

In 2025, some sports stand out for making players the most money — not just from salaries,

but from global contracts and endorsements. According to current earnings rankings, basketball leads

the world with the NBA’s average salary at around $11.9 million per player — the highest of

any major sport. Baseball comes next, with MLB players averaging about $4.66 million,

followed by soccer stars in leagues like the Premier League at roughly $4.1 million a season.

Ice hockey’s NHL ranks fourth at about $3.5 million, and American football’s NFL rounds out the

top five with average player earnings near $2.7 million. These figures show which sports reward

athletes the most financially on average, but remember — superstar paydays in boxing, golf,