In 2024, Inter Miami had the highest average player salary in Major League Soccer (MLS) at over 1.2 million U.S. dollars per year. At the other end of the scale, the average player at CF Montreal earned just over 368,000 U.S. dollars per year. Major League Soccer is the highest division of professional soccer in the United States.

Lionel Messi was the highest-paid MLS player in 2024, earning a guaranteed 20.45 million U.S. dollars. The iconic Argentinian forward moved to the U.S. in June of that year, having an immediate social media impact.

In 2022, the minimum annual salary for senior MLS players was 84 thousand U.S. dollars, while reserve players earned a minimum of 65,500 U.S. dollars. Lorenzo Insigne, the highest-paid player in the MLS, earned approximately 14 million U.S. dollars a year.

In 2023, the MLS teams with the highest operating income were D.C. United and FC Cincinnati at 10 million U.S. dollars. Meanwhile, the Vancouver Whitecaps made a loss of 14 million U.S. dollars.

The net income of MLS Co., Ltd. with headquarters in China amounted to 429.92 million yuan in 2023. The reported fiscal year ends on December 31.Compared to the earliest depicted value from 2020 this is a total increase by approximately 128.18 million yuan. The trend from 2020 to 2023 shows, however, that this increase did not happen continuously.

In 2024, Carles Gil was the New England Revolution's highest earner, with an annual salary of around 4.5 million U.S. dollars. Meanwhile, Giacomo Vrioni earned over 1.9 million dollars per year.

In 2024, Inter Miami's total payroll amounted to approximately 41.71 million U.S. dollars, more than any other Major League Soccer (MLS) team. Meanwhile, CF Montreal's total wage bill for the same year came to roughly 11.4 million U.S. dollars.

In 2024, Cristian Arango was Real Salt Lake's highest-paid player, earning around 2.1 million U.S. dollars per year. Meanwhile, Diogo Gonçalves earned roughly 1.8 million U.S. dollars a year.

With each player taking home a handsome 8.32 million U.S. dollars every year, the NBA is the professional sports league with the highest player wages worldwide. In second place is the Indian Premier League, an annual cricket competition contested each year between eight franchises representing eight different Indian cities.

Big money in the NBA Although the wages that players in the NBA take home are astronomical, the average annual salaries vary from one team to another. Whilst the New York Knicks pay their players an average of 7.08 million U.S. dollars a year, Portland Trail Blazers spent around 10.04 million U.S. dollars annually on each of their stars in 2019/20. NBA salaries have tremendously increased throughout the years reaching 8.32 million U.S. dollars in 2019/20 compared to 4.6 million U.S. dollars in 2015/16.

In 2024, Los Angeles FC's highest-earning player was Olivier Giroud, who had an annual salary of almost 3.7 million U.S. dollars. Meanwhile, Aaron Long earned just over 1.3 million U.S. dollars per year.

Lionel Messi was Inter Miami's highest-paid player in 2024, earning over 20.4 million U.S. dollars per year. Meanwhile, Messi's former Barcelona teammate Sergio Busquets earned around 8.8 million U.S. dollars per year.

Aleksey Miranchuk was Atlanta United's highest-paid player in 2024, earning around 3.7 million U.S. dollars per year. Meanwhile, Stian Gregersen earned an annual salary of over 1.1 million U.S. dollars per year.

In 2023, the MLS team with the highest revenue was Los Angeles FC, generating a total of around 140 million U.S. dollars. LAFC was also the league's most valuable club in the same year.

Christian Benteke was DC United's highest-earning player in 2024, with an annual salary of around 4.7 million U.S. dollars. Meanwhile, former Leeds United midfielder Mateusz Klich earned around 2.1 million U.S. dollars per year.

In 2024, Mikael Uhre was Philadelphia Union's highest-paid player, earning over two million U.S. dollars per year. Meanwhile, Dániel Gazdag earned around 1.8 million U.S. dollars per year.

Héctor Herrera was the Houston Dynamo's highest earner in 2024. The player earned a guaranteed yearly compensation of over 5.2 million U.S. dollars.

Luis Muriel was Orlando City's highest-paid player in 2024, earning over 4.3 million U.S. dollars per year. Meanwhile, Facundo Torres earned just over 1.8 millions U.S. dollars a year.

Ricard Puig Martí was the LA Galaxy's highest-paid player in 2024, earning over 4.6 million U.S. dollars per year. Meanwhile, Joseph Paintsil earned an annual salary of around 4.2 million U.S. dollars.

In 2024, Hany Mukhtar was Nashville SC's highest earner, with an annual salary of 5.2 million U.S. dollars. Meanwhile, Walker Zimmerman earned approximately 3.5 million U.S. dollars per year.

In 2024, Minnesota United's highest-paid player was former Norwich forward Teemu Pukki, who earned roughly 3.6 million U.S. dollars per year. Meanwhile, Robin Lod earned over 1.6 million U.S. dollars per year.