The Global Sports Salaries Survey revealed that ManU pays the "highest wages in world football," according to Neil Robinson of REUTERS. Average basic first-team pay at the Premier League club has been calculated at £5.77M ($7.27M) per year or £110,962 ($139,685) per week. The club is ranked fourth in the overall sporting pay league behind the NBA's Cleveland Cavaliers, which pays an average annual salary of $8.7M, MLB's New York Yankees ($7.68M) and another NBA team, the LA Clippers ($7.65M). The survey is "based on the reported pay of almost 10,000 sportsmen at 333 teams in seven sports." Barcelona is the second highest football payers with an average annual salary of £5.65M ($7.1M), followed by Man City with £5.4M ($6.8M). The two Manchester clubs are the only Premier League teams in the overall sporting top 30, with Chelsea (34), Arsenal (47) and Liverpool (60) "lagging well behind American sports teams, reflecting the pound's fall against the dollar, following Britain's vote to leave the European Union" (REUTERS, 11/13). In London, Nick Harris reported the survey shows how the NBA teams have "collectively stretched their lead to keep American basketball as clearly the world's best paying sport." The 449 players on the rosters of the NBA's 30 teams earn an average £4.8M ($6M) a year. The Premier League's financial strength in depth "is mightier than ever thanks to new TV deals now in force" for the '16-19 seasons, when Sky and BT Sport will pay £5.1B ($6.4M) between them for domestic live rights. The gender equality gap in sport is "put in stark relief by the new figures on pay." For example, the combined salaries of every player in the '16 season in the women's basketball competition in America, the WNBA, which is the highest paying women's league in the world, was about £8.7M ($11M). There are 95 players in the '16-17 men's NBA who are each earning more than the entire WNBA (DAILY MAIL, 11/12).
WAGES IN THE EAST: In a separate piece, Harris wrote five of the 14 best-paid footballers in the world "now play in the Chinese Super League." Brazilian forward Hulk is the fourth best-paid player on £16.6M ($21M) a year with Shanghai SIPG -- which just hired Manager Andre Villas-Boas on an £11M ($13.8M)-a-year contract to replace Sven-Goran Eriksson -- that works out at £320,000 ($402,000) a week. Pelle is No 6, on more than £14M ($17.6M) a year, just behind ManU’s Paul Pogba. Argentine Ezequiel Lavezzi at Hebei China Fortune £13.5M ($17M) a year, Ramires at Jiangsu Suning £11.6M ($14.6M) and Jackson Martinez at Guangzhou Evergrande £11.2M ($14.1M) are the others. To put that in context, "they all make more in basic pay than Barcelona’s Luis Suarez" -- the winner of the Golden Shoe for being the best striker last season in Europe. The best-paid team in the CSL by average salary now is Shandong Luneng, with average first-team pay of £1.47M ($1.8M) a year (DAILY MAIL, 11/12).
