Top Three Best “Paying” Cities for Athletes

There are very few resources covering this topic due to the fact that these numbers are normally kept quite private, except for the few outstanding signings which get published. This forced me to look at the question my editor asked in a different light. As opposed to monetary figures, I’ll look at team standings.

Now, readers may disagree with my list (more or less, people from everywhere except the U.S.) but allow me to explain myself. The cities listed are surprisingly not “football (soccer) cities” for the simple fact that they only focus on football. Additionally, other athletes in these same cities are not paid as well.

This is why Manchester is not listed as one of the top three cities (although Manchester United and Manchester City are such exceptionally well-paid teams), but neither are Milan (home of AC and Inter Milan to the uninitiated) or even Madrid (Home of Athletico and Real Madrid).

These cities are too focused on one sport alone and while the pay is excellent, they do not rival the following:

No. 3: Washington, D.C.

Washington has eight top-flight professional teams: Orioles, Nationals, Capitals, Redskins, Ravens, Wizards, Mystics and D.C. United. The city is also formerly home of the Colts (now in Indianapolis). In addition, these teams have brought home 15 titles to the city.

For math wizzes out there, that is roughly two titles per team.

This city then becomes a top-paying city because as it is well known, teams that have actually won a title have more clout in terms of sponsorship and also tend to get higher quality athletes, thus are guaranteed to pay more money (I’m hoping that my wonderful readers will understand my deductive reasoning here). D.C. is also home to one of the largest stadiums (Fedex field) in the NFL, and also has quite sizable stadiums for all other sporting events as well. 

No. 2: Boston

While there are less top-flight teams in Boston with only six to its roster: Red Sox, Braves, Bruins, Patriots, Celtics and Revolution, the quality of these teams certainly stands as a testament to the rich (pun intended) sporting heritage that is Boston. These six teams alone have won 31 major championship titles.

Math wizzes will quickly calculate that to be five championships per team! FIVE!

While one can say that it is simply because the Celtics should basically be dubbed the gods of basketball, as they have 16 titles all to themselves, I’m quick to point out that next to the Braves and the Revolution, all the other teams have won multiple titles. If you want a better understanding of the money that is spent in Boston, look at the big names Boston is home to:

Tom Brady, Randy Moss, Joey Galloway, Ray Allen, Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, Rasheed Wallace, David Ortiz, etc.

Unfortunately, I’m not able to elaborate on the MBL and NHL teams, but the names listed above alone are worth enough money to buy yourself an entire team.

No. 1:  New York (pretty obvious to me)

I mean, do I really have to expand here?

Home of the Yankees, Giants (both NFL and MLB), Mets, Dodgers (well, formerly), Rangers, Islanders, Jets, Knicks, and Red Bulls. I can further expand this list by simply adding teams which are based in New Jersey. I mean look at the Madison Square Garden, this arena is simply one of, if not the most, famous arenas in the world.

Think of all the events that have taken place in that arena, boxing, basketball, even hockey (talk about multi-purpose!). Think of all the Yankee hats and Giants jerseys you have seen around. To further add to the 48 titles shared among the MLB, NHL, NFL and NBA teams (yet another average of five per team,) New York City is also home to the U.S. Open Tennis Grand Slam, numerous golf events, and the list goes on and on.

It goes without question that New York would certainly win the title of best paying sports city in the world.

All in all, it depends highly on the type of sports you want to play. People interested in baseball, basketball or American football would certainly be able to make more than enough money in any of the top three cities I picked. However, if you are good at football (soccer), then America isn’t where you need to be – you will need to head over to England, Italy, Spain, or Germany. Oh, and if you are a motorsports professional, yet again, head to Europe!