Talk:List of largest sports contracts

This article was nominated for deletion on 28 nov 2006. The result of the discussion was keep.

I see no reason under the deletion policy to delete this article. It is a little awkward but still contains interesting information. Moomot 19:14, 28 November 2006 (UTC)

Michael Jordan

Can someone get his figures, I know he'd be REALLY up there.

Thanks!!!

This says he signed a one-year $33-36 million contract in 1997. This says he signed an eight-year, $25 million contract in 1988. His 2001 contract with the Wizards was for the veteran's minimum. I might be missing one, I don't know, but it doesn't seem like any of his could be above $100 million. Recury 18:53, 10 August 2007 (UTC)

The human race has fracked up priorities

Hey, frack cancer or hunger. Let's give hundreds of millions of dollars to people to dance on a field or ocurt. Yeah!

-G

not a message board, as you well know. Quadzilla99 02:30, 13 January 2007 (UTC)

We need any article on sports and their payouts. This could be the start of a critism section...--Viridis 03:25, 13 January 2007 (UTC)

American Only

This is an American only article isn't it?

• No - This article is international. It's just that American sports franchises are in the business of shelling out long term, high-paying deals, whereas in UEFA, franchises usually only sign players for up to 4-5 years. I think Ronaldinho's contract is around 85 million USD, which doesn't make the cut on this list. Whoppersnapper 03:06, 13 January 2007 (UTC)

Beckham

Los Angeles Galaxy, not New York.

Please note Beckham's salary is NOT $50 million a year, that is his expect total earnings, after endorsements, etcetera [[1]]. Do not insert it into the article.

--Spirit2112 21:23, 12 January 2007 (UTC) IMHO, I am doubtful that Beckham's contract will really value anywhere near $50 Million. MLS soccer teams typically struggle financially and are not likely profitable; thus there wouldn't be any profits to share with him. I'm sure his presence will have a positive impact on the MLS and the LA club in particular, but his presence alone will not lift professional soccer into the "big-time" US sports. If your not convinced, ask yourself what would be the impact on the Indy Racing League (open-wheel auto racing) if Michael Schumacher were to join the league. Sure he'd have an impact, but it wouldn't move the sport substantially in the minds of the average US sports fan. They are European sport stars, not US sport stars, essentially. US fans are too caught up in the established sports (American Football, Basketball, Baseball and even Hockey - in Hockey towns). My $0.02.

I think the question one has to ask is -- was the contract value $250 million? Did it say on paper that he'll eventually have $250 million -- guaranteed? Therefore, I'd think he did sign a contract for $250 million and it would be #1. But, I do find some of the information about his contract to be lacking and I honestly don't understand how much he'll actually make when it's all said and done.The Invisible Man 22:24, 12 January 2007 (UTC)

Do you guys think people will stop adding him to the list a couple days from now or will it just be like this forever? Recury 23:55, 12 January 2007 (UTC)

If they do, hit them with this link [2] it's not even $10 million a year. SirFozzie 23:58, 12 January 2007 (UTC)

As far as I'm aware, his contract is worth $100 million. He get's $10 million a year salary, and $10 million a year in club profits. $20 million in one year; $100 million in the five years, which puts him joint 24th on the list. BBC News. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 144.173.6.66 (talk) 21:38, 13 January 2007 (UTC).

The Soccernet link said the offer two weeks ago was 9 mil per, 4-year contract. It's been well publicized the deal was a five-year deal, which even the Soccernet link acknowledges. 71.146.42.248 17:32, 14 January 2007 (UTC)

The bottom line is that it inludes salary and endorsements. I think it should just be listed @ the top w/ an asterik. We shouldn't be guessing an exact amount, just saying what was reported - 250 Mil (reportedly includes salary and endorsements) 66.30.130.133 05:40, 14 January 2007 (UTC)

Formula 1 Drivers

Anyone want to find more sources on this? I'm not sure how long Alonso's contract is, but his pay is right up there w/ Schumacher's. [[3]] —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 71.206.215.18 (talk) 14:40, 12 January 2007 (UTC).

This and this say about $40 million per year, which would corroborate your source. This article from 2005 says his contract is for "a maximum of" 4 years, which would put him on the list. I'd wait until we get something a little clearer about his contract length before adding him though. Recury 15:19, 12 January 2007 (UTC)

I'm almost positive Fernando's McLaren contract expires in 2009 The Dunnie —The preceding signed but undated comment was added at 21:36, August 22, 2007 (UTC).

All-Time Adjusted

It would be nice to see a list of all-time largest sports contracts, adjusted for inflation. But it would be extremely difficult to find that information, and I'm not sure if that list would be substantially different than this one. I can't help but noting that all but four of these were signed in 2000 or later. What would be doable though is also listing the salaries averaged per year, or a seperate chart for largest (average) salary per year. A lot of these look really huge but are actually over 10 or 11 years, and I can think of players signing one and two year deals for $20M or soething. PolarisSLBM 18:04, 12 January 2007 (UTC)

Agree on the averaging per year. It seems a particularly American thing to measure the total value. Most European football contracts are expressed in a per week way which is easier to compare Morganr 19:33, 12 January 2007 (UTC)

This list is the largest contracts, not the largest yearly value. I wouldn't have a problem with a second list on this page for that, though. However, I don't think a weekly value list should be included, because of possible conflicts (NFL players are only paid for 16 weeks a year excluding playoffs, for example, making their weekly salary much higher even though the yearly value is similar) and redundancy (if the conflicts were eliminated, it would just be the yearly / 52). --SodiumBenzoate 22:04, 12 January 2007 (UTC)

There are many links on the web for converting dollars into values adjusted for inflation. For example, this link at cgi.money.cnn.com allows you to plug in a dollar amount at today's value and choose a year to revalue it to. Few of the contracts in this article need adjustment, but note that US$1 is US$0.82 in 1996 dollars (or, equivalently, US$1 in 1996 = US$1.22 in 2005). Perhaps adding a single "Adjusted Amount" column or a parenthetical amount would suffice. — Loadmaster 00:48, 13 January 2007 (UTC)

Annual Salaries

We need to get a highest annual salary list. Also Beck's contract is misleading because it includes endorsements which virtually no other contract does. Jordan was making $35 million a year in salary alone and should be #1 all-time. He also made $80-100 million a year in endorsements I believe. However he signed single year contracts. Quadzilla99 02:30, 13 January 2007 (UTC)

Yeah, beckham needs to come off the list. Night Gyr (talk/Oy) 02:43, 13 January 2007 (UTC)

Keep in mind the heading of this article. It deals specifically with sports contracts. Annual salaries should be a separate post, or if they are combined, the heading should be changed Whoppersnapper 03:05, 13 January 2007 (UTC)

I'm saying start a list of highest single season salaries and also highest average yearly salary. Quadzilla99 08:43, 14 January 2007 (UTC)

Someone else's turn to catch everyone putting Beckham in

I'm going to bed :P SirFozzie 07:37, 13 January 2007 (UTC)

Why is the main page even linking to this article? People keep adding Beckham in because of they expected to see him in the #1 or #2 slot with the $250M package that has been widely reported on the news. --Kralizec! (talk) 17:48, 13 January 2007 (UTC)

* and retired players

is it redundant to have an asterisk next to a retired player's team? I think it's quite obvious that the player no longer plays on that (or any) team. Im.a.lumberjack 21:52, 15 January 2007 (UTC)

Peyton Manning

Peyton Manning should be on this list. He's the highest paid NFL player in history. 99 million dollar contract, 35 million signing bonus, 19 million in incentives (which I'ms ure he got after winning the Super Bowl). He makes more than Vick and Palmer.

Yes, you're right. I've added him. Recury 13:11, 27 April 2007 (UTC)

Actually, Vick is the highest paid player in NFL history with a $130m contract and $37m in signing bonus. Alldaiallnite 02:41, 22 May 2007 (UTC)

Another column

Might it be useful to create another column, with the salary per year? it may make comparison easier for contracts with different lengths. just a thought. - Im.a.lumberjack 21:53, 15 January 2007 (UTC)

• Although it would be nice to have this collumn, it wouldn't be an accurate representation of annual earnings because of signing bonuses. For example, Donovan McNabb's 12-year contract includes a $20 million signing bonus, meaning his annual earnings are less than the total dollars of his deal divided over 12 years. Whoppersnapper 19:59, 18 January 2007 (UTC)

Although there is a caveat in the intro, I was thinking the exact same thing. ~ Rollo44 01:17, 11 March 2007 (UTC)

• Per Year Average is a more representative name for the new collumn. The collumn lists the total dollars divided over the number or years. It's an average, by definition. Actual dollars earned for most athletes differ from year to year of their contract. Whoppersnapper 05:39, 10 May 2007 (UTC)

Michael Vick

Can someone explain how Vick is listed above 5 people who have larger contracts than he? Jfiling 23:55, 22 August 2007 (UTC)

Someone probably was just messing with his numbers. The reference says his contract was $167,000,000 not $137,000,000. I fixed it. Recury 13:54, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

Unless I'm reading it wrong, the reference states that his contract is $130,000,000, with $37,000,000 guaranteed in the form of bonuses. Other sources I find say the same. I just don't want to edit unless there is clear proof one way or the other, but it seems to me he should rank 8th on the list Jfiling 22:16, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

Like it says in the first paragraph of the article, we would count a bonus like that as part of the contract. I think the idea is to eliminate optional money like player options or performance-based incentives, which makes sense to me. Recury 23:22, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

Todd Helton

He is on the list twice, does anyone know why?