Why don't rugby players make as much $$ as their US gridiron counterparts?

Question

Carl Hayman's 1M paycheck is nothing compared to Peyton Mannings 100M contract and yet, Hayman wears no pads!! A no name punter on a US teams brings in more than world class penalty kick wonder Dan Carter. . .so what's up with that?

Answer 1

My god is this woman serious.

Answer 2

The attendance at NFL games is so much larger than anything in rugby so their gate sales are so much larger. And don't forget the US has a population of over 300 million so they make big money in TV rights and merchandise.

Answer 3

Why don't you go compare some apples and oranges?

NFL and Rugby are two totally different sports.

Not wearing pads is that worth $100m? No. It is all about advertisting and money.

NFL has so much money pumped into it by TV advertising and the owners of the franchises they can afford to pay their players the big money, IRB and the seperate rugby unions simply don't have the money.

It has nothing to do with skill or 'not wearing pads' as you so naively wrote.

Answer 4

Superbowl has 1.5 Billion viewers Rugby not so much

Answer 5

It's not about the quality of the sport.  It's about the quality of the marketing, as "joseph's brain" points out, and being a free market economy, players and coaches and team owners, etc., can charge whatever they think the fools will pay, and obviously there a lot of fools in this country.   That's why I detest all "professional", and college, some highschool sports.  There's too much money-grabbing going on, and not enough sportsmanship.  God Bless you.

Answer 6

Because rugby players would play for free while American football players would strike if one penny of their $100 mil was missing.

Answer 7

Most of the players play because they love the game. They do not play for money. Rugby is also not as industrialized as sports like Football, Basketball,. etc. They dont have large amounts of advertising or endorsements from nike, and the like. It is much easier to see a football game than a rugby match on tv.

I think that Rugby should get mor tv time.

I do like the fact that the players play for the love of the game and not for the love of their bank accounts.

It makes the sports much nicer to watch.

And personally I think it is stupid when pro football players cry because they are only makning 50mill. a year.

Answer 8

they don't got "people"

Answer 9

simple,NFL teams have billion dollar sponsors,players earn more in indorsements also

Answer 10

Marketing.

Rugby has no marketing, and little marketability in the USA.

Apparel, ad revenue, ticket sales and a multitude of other moneymakers are what support player, staff and executive salaries (and bonuses).

I agree pro atheletes in the NBA, NFL and NHL are overpaid, but they are paid "what the market will bare".