In the era of streaming and sovereign money, uncapped, globally funded sports—not U.S. salary-capped leagues—now set the market ceiling for athlete pay.

Three more takeaways

1. Star density drives pay. Sports where one person carries the whole product (boxing, golf, F1) funnel far more revenue to a single athlete than 50-man roster sports, so top AAVs skew to solo formats.
2. Caps set the ceiling; media deals lift it. NBA/NFL top contracts rise mechanically with the cap, but individual-max rules keep them below uncapped peers; the next cap jumps will move basketball ahead of baseball on AAV rather than term length.
3. Geography is a pricing lever. Sovereign-backed leagues and non-U.S. clubs can outbid capped teams; add FX swings and the same “€ figure” can jump U.S. rankings month to month.

Data & caveats

• List shows salary/contract AAV, not endorsements; that’s why a player’s total income can exceed the number here.
• Non-USD deals converted at recent FX; rankings shift with exchange rates.
• Some figures (NASCAR, WWE, esports) are credible estimates—not CBA-published salaries.
• Deal structures vary: deferrals (e.g., mega MLB contracts), incentives, and per-event purses change cash flow vs AAV.
• Seasons, fiscal years, and contract “start years” don’t always align; we standardize to a yearly rate for comparability.

Related facts

• 💸 NBA supermax = 35% of the cap for qualified stars—so every cap jump creates a new AAV record without renegotiation.
• 🏎️ F1 driver salaries sit outside the team cost cap, letting teams splurge on talent while trimming elsewhere.
• 🧾 Some record MLB deals pay single-digit millions in current cash with the rest deferred—headline AAV ≠ take-home this year.
• 🥊 Per-event sports can top a season’s salary in one night when PPV/back-end shares hit; AAV smooths that volatility.
• 🌍 The Saudi Pro League and LIV didn’t just raise offers—they reset the reservation price for global stars, forcing legacy leagues to rethink pay structures.