Despite the fact that the USFL has a massive history with many incarnations over the years, it isn’t at all at the level of the NFL or even the CFL financially speaking. To say it’s in the early stages of resurgence is putting it mildly for sure, but despite all that, a great start they’ve had with this most recent return. But many can’t help but wonder…how much do USFL players make in 2022?

A look at other leagues and sports

I mean you can’t help but wonder. For years we’ve been made to understand that the realm of professional sports is equally the realm of big money and big business. I mean “Show me the money,” right? Just as Jerry Maguire taught us to say.

Well, over the years we’ve seen ball players in any sport rack in a serious amount of cash, and along with that cash come the toys that anyone would want…giant houses, cars that most people can only dream about and well…the sky is the limit when you’re making millions of dollars, which many top players in professional sports undoubtedly do.

That spans from soccer to baseball, basketball, pro football obviously, and heck, even professional wrestling and MMA.

How Much Do NFL Players Make

For instance, according to nbcsports.com, the mean salary for an NFL player was recorded at 2.7 million dollars. This was specifically recorded in 2017, but the aforementioned piece goes on to state that the NFL Players Association put in motion agreements that the amount specified would no doubt go up as years progress.

How Much Do NFL Practice Squad Players Make

For NFL practice squad players, rookies make $11,500 per week. For a full NFL season that works out to $207,000. NFL Veteran players can range, between $15,400 and $19,900 per week. A full NFL season for them translates to between $277,200 and $358,200.

How Much Do CFL Players Make

As far as the CFL is concerned, the salary is a heck of a lot lower than the above. According to Dave Naylor of TSN.com, $65,000 is where the net salary for players is set and that’s as of 2019.

How Much Do Top Soccer Players Make

To give you an idea of big business money being paid to some athletes the world over, a look at professional international soccer is a must, dear readers. For example, Cristiano Ronaldo of Manchester United makes a whopping $26.52 million GBP (Great British Pounds), and Lionel Messi of Paris Saint-Germain takes home a whopping 41 million USD!

How Much Do Top NFL Players Make

And to go back to the NFL here for just a second, let’s take a look at Aaron Rodgers, who a little while back apparently announced that the next contract he negotiated at the time, he wouldn’t take any less than $50 million! He denied these claims later, according to a piece at foxsports.com, but still, the fact that this is possible speaks volumes. ESPN’s Diana Russini had this to say on the matter at the time while she was a guest on the The Rich Eisen Show:

“From the conversations I’ve had with a lot of people in the league, he wants to be the highest-paid player in the NFL by a wide margin…We are talking about $50 million a year. That is what I was told. I was told that is around the number he is looking for per year.”

via foxsports.com

Many spoke out at the time…even members of his own team, stating that the act, if true, was a selfish one. Despite the fact that he claimed it was false, as per a piece at NFL.com, his salary was bumped up considerably by the Green Bay Packers recently. (Surprise, surprise!)

He reportedly made $42 million in 2022; he is set to take home $59.515 million in 2023 and then in 2024, the salary is reportedly set at $49.3 million.

Again readers, this is just to give you a point of reference when we take a look at the USFL, which we’ll do right now…

USFL Average Salary

Well, after looking at all those loads of cash being thrown around, the USFL salary doesn’t at all look that impressive. According to sportingnews.com, the mean weekly check for a USFL athlete is set at $4,500. That makes a yearly income of roughly $45,000.

So no, in the grand scheme of things that isn’t at all a whopping salary, but the USFL is of course just getting started up again, and the players are getting noticed. The USFL is garnering for these players yet another place to gain exposure for their respective careers and in the end that’s a good thing. If money is all a player is after, then perhaps they’re not in the game for the right reasons.

Do USFL Players Get Bonuses

According to the same aforementioned piece at sportingnews.com (link above), the players do in fact get bonuses. There is a victory bonus of $850 dollars, and a championship bonus that can be up to $10,000 dollars.

In the end that could end up meaning that a player who is on a team that has not been defeated and has been considered to be “active” can make up to just over $75,000 dollars by season’s end.

Pays to win, eh? In the USFL it sure does.

Kind of reminds me of the way pro bodybuilding and the IFBB is set up…the closer you rank at the top at shows, the more you make and if you win, the more you take home. Archaic? Perhaps, but in the end it’s normal for a league that’s just coming back to the realm of sports where there already are two top leagues if you’re looking at the NFL and CFL.

Next year’s emergence of Dwayne Johnson’s revitalized XFL will add yet another league on that aforementioned realm. It’ll be interesting to see how those salaries will be broken down, but perhaps that’s a story for another time, dear readers.

Will Pay Change As The USFL Grows In Scope

In the end, of course. As stated above, the USFL is still in the baby stages of the also aforementioned reemergence onto the field so to speak. As the league grows in that scope and acquires for itself more sponsors and more accessibility and more importantly, visibility, these numbers should increase over time.

Now looking at the CFL salaries…for a league that’s been around as long as it has, those above salaries and numbers are considerably low and would disprove my statements here, but seeing that the USFL is an American league, it’s a tad more likely that more money be thrown in its direction, whereas in Canada institutions are a tad less likely to throw money around that easily or with calculated abandon even, as they are in the States. Not reckless abandon mind you, but calculated abandon.

Regardless, the league should grow in scope and in more ways than one, especially when considering who owns the USFL….

*For all of your USFL News: USFL News Hub

NEXT: Who Owns The USFL, Who Owns The USFL Brand & Teams?