Professional sports

Professional sports are teams and individuals who get paid for playing games and competitions. Unlike amateur sports, where people play mostly for fun, professionals make money from their skills and training.

Mass media and more free time for people to relax have helped grow the popularity of sports. This means sports teams can earn a lot of money from fans watching and supporting them.

Because of this, many athletes can focus full-time on getting better at their sports. They train hard to improve their skills and stay in top shape. Even though there are many more amateur players than professionals, only the professionals usually get to play in the big leagues and tournaments.

History

American football

Main article: Professional gridiron football

American football started becoming a paid sport in the 1890s. Two players, Pudge Heffelfinger and Ben "Sport" Donnelly, were the first to secretly get paid to play in 1892. Small leagues formed in cities like Chicago, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and New York in the early 1900s. These leagues led to the creation of the American Professional Football Association in 1920, which later became the National Football League.

In the beginning, pro football was not very popular and got little attention. The first game had only about 4,000 fans watching. Teams made their own schedules and played whoever they wanted. The league did not keep official records or standings. Over time, the league grew and added more rules. It started to get more popular, especially with the help of television, which showed games to many people.

Baseball

Main article: Professional baseball

Baseball has been played since before the American Civil War. The first professional league began in 1871. By the early 1900s, many cities had their own teams. The National League and American League became the main leagues. Baseball became very popular in the 1920s, partly because of Babe Ruth, who hit many home runs and helped his team win championships.

In the late 1950s, baseball teams started to move to cities on the West Coast. Players could now become free agents, meaning they could choose which team they wanted to play for, which made some players very wealthy. Japan also has its own successful baseball league.

Basketball

See also: List of basketball leagues

Basketball was invented in 1891, and the first professional leagues started in the 1920s. The National Basketball Association was formed in 1946. It took until 1976 for the NBA to become the main basketball league in the U.S., after it merged with another league.

Basketball can work in smaller cities because teams have fewer players. Basketball became very popular in the 1980s with players like Magic Johnson and Larry Bird, and later Michael Jordan, who led his team to many championships.

Ice hockey

Main article: Professional ice hockey

Ice hockey became a professional sport in Pittsburgh in the early 1900s. Because most players were Canadian, early U.S. leagues hired many Canadians. Canada later formed its own leagues. The National Hockey League started in 1917.

The NHL grew to include teams in many cities, but during tough economic times, it shrank to just six teams. Later, it expanded again and added teams in new places. Today, many countries have their own professional hockey leagues.

Rugby league

Rugby league became professional in 1895. The main leagues are in Australia and England.

Rugby union

Rugby union allowed professional players for the first time in 1995. Now, many countries around the world have professional rugby union teams.

Opposition to professionalism

Some people believe that sports should be played just for fun, not for money. They think that when athletes get paid, it takes away from the pure joy of competing. This idea comes from older times when sports were often played in schools and were tied to values like fair play and honor.

Others argue that not paying athletes is unfair. They say that only people who are rich can afford to play sports without getting paid, which is not right. Some athletes who are called "amateurs" still get money in secret ways, like jobs that support their sports. This has been true in many places throughout history.

Sports salaries

Professional sports players can earn a lot of money at the top levels. For example, in 2024, the Los Angeles Dodgers baseball team planned to pay their highest-paid player, Shohei Ohtani, 70 million dollars. Some of the highest-paid athletes include Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, Naomi Osaka, Tiger Woods, Serena Williams, and wrestler-turned-actor The Rock. Top tennis players make about $3 million a year on average.

Much of the growth in income for sports and athletes has come from broadcasting rights; for example, the most recent television contract for the NFL is worth nearly US$5 billion per year.

Women tend to earn considerably less than men in many sports such as basketball, golf, football (soccer), softball and baseball. In tennis, however, women tend to have salaries similar to men. The highest-paid female athlete in 2019 was Serena Williams with a $29.2 million annual income; the highest-paid male player was Lionel Messi with a $127 million annual income. In association football, the average wage for women worldwide is $35,000, while for men it is $410,730. Women’s leagues also tend to have fewer fans, less corporate support, and less money from broadcasting rights.

Outside the top leagues, professional athletes often earn much less money because there are fewer fans and no television revenue. For example, while teams in the National Football League can pay players millions each year, the second-highest American football league in the United States, the United Football League, struggled to pay its players only $20,000 a year.

Many professional athletes experience financial difficulties after they stop playing, due to bad investments, spending too much, and not having other job skills.

American football

Main article: Professional football (gridiron)

Association football

Main article: Professionalism in association football

Chinese Super League

Russian Premier League

Bundesliga

Serie A

La Liga

Premier League

Major League Soccer

Baseball

Cricket