Working in professional sport
This page covers the nine big North American leagues (NHL, NBA, NFL, MLB, MLS, CFL, NLL, WNBA, PWHL) as employers. It shows how much money the leagues make, which jobs exist beyond the players, how people get hired, and what those jobs pay. The main point: most jobs in pro sport are not on the field. They are in sales, marketing, event operations and part-time game-day work. The game-day jobs pay about the same as other service work. US government data shows that office and marketing roles at sports employers pay well below what the same jobs pay in other industries.
30 sources · 8 tier C · 52 tier A · 3 unverified · 4 tier B · prepared 2026-09-21
01
The leagues as businesses
Every league on this list is privately held, and none publishes audited league-wide accounts. League revenue figures come from commissioners' statements or from reporters' estimates, so they are tier C. The only audited figures come from the few teams whose owners file public accounts.
| NFL: teams | 32C |
| NFL: national revenue shared among clubs, 2025 season Sportico's figure from unnamed people familiar with league finances; not published by the NFL. |
about US$14.5bn (over US$450m per club)C |
| NBA: teams | 30C |
| NBA: team revenue, 2024-25 Sportico estimate; clubs ranged from US$301m to US$833m. Sportico reports the league's 2025-26 projection at US$14.3bn gross. |
US$12.25bn across 30 teams (avg US$408m)C |
| NHL: teams | 32A |
| NHL: league revenue, 2025-26 The commissioner's statement in June 2026; it mixes U.S. and Canadian dollars. It is not an audited figure. |
US$7.5bn–8bn (commissioner's range)C |
| MLB: teams | 30A |
| MLB: league revenue, 2024 The league reported this figure to the press. We found no 2025 figure from the league. |
US$12.1bn (league-reported record)C |
| MLS: clubs | 30A |
| NLL (box lacrosse): teams | 14A |
| CFL: teams We could not open cfl.ca (it returned not found or forbidden), so this widely reported count is unconfirmed. |
9UNVERIFIED |
| Filed anchor: New York Knicks + Rangers (MSG Sports), FY to June 2026 Ticketing, food and merchandise: $536.5m. Media rights: $295.7m. Sponsorship, signage and suites: $255.3m. League distributions: $66.2m. Operating income: $28.9m. |
US$1.154bn revenueA |
| Filed anchor: Atlanta Braves, calendar 2025 Game-day revenue: $357.8m. Broadcasting: $188.6m. Retail and licensing: $46.5m. Other: $42.1m. The company's mixed-use property business is not included. |
US$635.1m baseball revenueA |
| Club's own report: Green Bay Packers, FY Apr 2025–Mar 2026 An operating loss of $1.1m and net income of $132.5m, lifted by investment gains. The NFL's shared revenue is more than half of this club's income. |
US$453.2m national (league-shared) revenueA |
| Green Bay Packers: total revenue, FY Apr 2025–Mar 2026 Local press report of the club's annual meeting. The Packers are the NFL's only publicly owned club. |
US$753mB |
| Community-owned CFL club: Saskatchewan Roughriders, FY to Mar 2026 About one twenty-fifth of the Knicks and Rangers' revenue. That gap shows how far apart the leagues on this page are in size. |
C$44.7m revenue (C$40.8m the year before)B |
02
Where the jobs are
In US government data, athletes are fewer than one job in twelve at spectator-sports employers. Most jobs are in game-day service, sales and marketing, and team support.
| US jobs at spectator-sports employers (NAICS 7112), May 2025 This group includes teams, racetracks and other spectator sports. It excludes self-employed people, and it may exclude arena staff who work for a separate venue company. |
170,410A |
| Athletes and sports competitors in that group NOC 5320 16,305 employed in Canada |
13,390 (about 8%)A |
| Coaches and scouts NOC 5320 16,305 employed in Canada Covers team operations, which includes scouting and player development. |
15,930A |
| Athletic trainers NOC 3120 90,775 employed in Canada Canada's closest title is athletic therapist (NOC 31204). |
1,830A |
| Game-day service: amusement attendants, ushers and ticket takers, security guards, food counter workers NOC 6532 33,350 employed in Canada Together these are about 24,600 jobs, larger than the athletes, coaches and scouts combined. |
10,600 + 5,840 + 5,890 + 2,260A |
| Security at events NOC 6441 107,530 employed in Canada |
5,890 guardsA |
| Concessions NOC 6520 408,590 employed in Canada Many venues contract food service to outside caterers, so this count understates concessions work. |
2,260 fast-food and counter workersA |
| Front office: market research analysts, PR specialists, marketing managers NOC 1120 333,310 employed in Canada US BLS classes many data and analytics jobs in sport as market research analysts. |
2,830 + 2,810 + 1,580A |
| Front office: sales managers, advertising sales agents NOC 6001 74,755 employed in Canada These are the partnership and sponsorship sales jobs. |
1,720 + 430A |
| Event planners NOC 1210 182,000 employed in Canada |
1,850A |
| Broadcast and venue production: audio and video technicians NOC 5211 71,165 employed in Canada |
1,230A |
| Groundskeepers | 2,090A |
| Staff at a two-team NBA/NHL owner (MSG Sports), June 2026 Players make up most of the 11.7% of staff in unions. Game-day staff at Madison Square Garden are employed by a sister company, MSG Entertainment, not by the teams. |
522 full-time, 495 part-timeA |
| Staff at the Braves' parent company, Dec 2025 This includes the mixed-use property business. The filing does not split out seasonal staff. |
about 1,610 full-time, seasonal and part-timeA |
| League office: NHL Offices in New York, Toronto and Montréal. |
about 1,500 employeesA |
03
How people get in
Leagues run paid internships and fellowships that feed entry-level jobs. The fellowships put people into ticket sales, partnerships, analytics, and baseball or football operations. The main entry route is paid, seasonal and time-limited work.
| NBA Summer Internship Program Departments include basketball strategy and analytics, broadcast operations, facilities, IT and social responsibility. |
Paid, 10 weeks, June–AugustA |
| NBA HBCU Fellowship Program Open to students at Historically Black Colleges and Universities. Fellows are placed with teams and the league office in ticket sales, corporate partnerships, IT, social responsibility and marketing. |
Paid, 10 weeks, June–AugustA |
| NBA 'Future Stars' programs For college juniors, seniors and early-career people. The programs offer mentorship and networking. |
Virtual training in sales, analytics and basketball operationsA |
| MLB Summer Internship Program Departments include special events, marketing, sponsorship, analytics, community affairs and PR. |
At least 9 weeks, New York officeA |
| MLB Billy Bean Fellowship (formerly the Diversity Fellowship) Fellows have worked in team operations, player development, scouting, and research and development. |
Placement in a club or league front officeA |
| MLB On Deck Sales Program The program feeds MLB and Minor League Baseball clubs. |
Sales training, then an entry-level sales job pipelineA |
| NFL Bill Walsh Diversity Coaching and Nunn-Wooten Scouting fellowships NOC 5320 16,305 employed in Canada The coaching fellowship began in 1987 and the scouting fellowship in 2015. |
More than 200 fellows in 2023A |
| Part-time and seasonal work is normal The MSG and Braves filings both describe part-time and seasonal staff as a standing part of their workforce. |
495 of 1,017 MSG Sports staff are part-timeA |
| Many applicants for each opening Widely said in the industry, but we found no survey or official figure to cite. |
Not quantifiedUNVERIFIED |
04
Pay
US medians are for May 2025 and Canadian medians for 2023-24. In the US, office jobs at sports employers pay much less than the same jobs in other industries. This is a real feature of the field.
| All jobs at US spectator-sports employers: median All US jobs: $50,980. |
US$46,700/yr ($22.45/hr)A |
| Marketing managers: sports vs all industries (US) NOC 1120 333,310 employed in Canada |
US$123,230 vs $166,790A |
| Sales managers: sports vs all industries (US) NOC 6001 74,755 employed in Canada |
US$96,670 vs $148,270A |
| PR specialists: sports vs all industries (US) NOC 1120 333,310 employed in Canada |
US$47,230 vs $74,750A |
| Market research analysts: sports vs all industries (US) | US$59,540 vs $78,760A |
| Event planners: sports vs all industries (US) NOC 1210 182,000 employed in Canada |
US$49,110 vs $61,160A |
| Athletic trainers: sports employers vs all industries (US) NOC 3120 90,775 employed in Canada Here sports employers pay more than other industries. |
US$74,090 vs $62,520A |
| Coaches and scouts: sports employers vs all industries (US) NOC 5320 16,305 employed in Canada |
US$62,570 vs $47,320A |
| Game-day hourly medians at US sports employers | Ushers $15.00; security $16.62; counter $13.75; attendants $16.91A |
| Canada: athletic therapist (NOC 31204), median NOC 3120 90,775 employed in Canada |
C$32.00/hr (range $22.00–$49.73)A |
| Canada: coach or sports scout (NOC 53201), median NOC 5320 16,305 employed in Canada |
C$25.00/hr (range $16.00–$43.27)A |
| Canada: marketing coordinator (NOC 11202), median NOC 1120 333,310 employed in Canada All industries. |
C$35.58/hrA |
| Canada: event planner (NOC 12103), median NOC 1210 182,000 employed in Canada |
C$28.37/hrA |
| Canada: ticket taker and usher (NOC 65329), median NOC 6532 33,350 employed in Canada |
C$17.50/hrA |
| Canada: food concession worker (NOC 65201), median NOC 6520 408,590 employed in Canada |
C$16.55/hrA |
05
The women's game
The WNBA is 30 years old and signed a new pay deal in 2026. The PWHL is less than three years old and is doubling in size. At both leagues, players' minimum pay is far below the men's leagues. That gap is much wider at the PWHL.
| WNBA: founded | Approved April 1996; first games June 1997A |
| WNBA: teams, 2026 Portland and Toronto joined in 2026. The league lists Cleveland to start in 2028. |
15 (13 in 2025)A |
| WNBA: 2025 attendance record This beat the 2002 record with 13 teams and 226 games. The 2002 record took 16 teams and 256 games. |
2.5m+ by 20 August 2025B |
| WNBA: 2025 regular-season total This figure comes from a third-party tracker cited by Front Office Sports, not from the league. |
over 3mC |
| WNBA: minimum salary, 2026 CBA The deal was announced on 20 March 2026 as tentative, pending ratification, and runs from 2026 to 2032. Salary cap: $7.0m, up from $1.5m in 2025. Expected average salary: $583,000. |
US$270,000–$300,000 (by years of service)A |
| WNBA: minimum by 2032 | US$340,000–$380,000A |
| PWHL: founded | First game 1 January 2024; 6 teams, 72-game seasonA |
| PWHL: teams, 2026-27 Detroit, Hamilton, Las Vegas and San Jose are new for 2026-27. Seattle and Vancouver joined for 2025-26. |
12A |
| PWHL: 2025-26 regular-season attendance Average attendance rose more than 28% on 2024-25. |
1,116,497 (avg 9,304 per game)A |
| PWHL: minimum salary under the 2023–2031 CBA The minimum rises 3% a year. The source does not state the currency. |
$35,000 (2024) → $37,131.50 (2025-26) → $38,245.45 (2026-27)B |
| PWHL: players' union salary disclosure, 2025-26 This is the first full salary disclosure by any professional women's hockey league. |
Median $49,000; top $126,090C |
| WNBA and PWHL league revenue | Not publishedUNVERIFIED |
?
Looked for and not found
Claims this page would have made if a source could be opened. They are left out rather than guessed.
- League-wide revenue for MLS, the CFL, the NLL, the WNBA and the PWHL. None of these leagues publishes revenue, and we found no estimate we could open and check. We left them blank rather than use search snippets.
- MLB revenue for 2025. We found only the league's 2024 figure of $12.1bn, and later figures appear only as estimates in snippets.
- The NBA Associate Program, a rotational graduate programme. Third-party sites describe it, but the NBA's early-career page (careers.nba.com) does not list it in the US at present; it lists only an NBA China Associate Program. We have not treated it as a current route.
- An NHL or NFL league-wide early-career or fellowship programme for business roles. We found only individual internship postings on TeamWork Online, which blocks scripted reading. The NFL's operations page on the Bill Walsh fellowship returned no text, so we cite the NFL.com announcement instead.
- How many people apply for each front-office job. The only figures we found ('more than 10 to 1') came from content-marketing sites with no source for the number.
- The CFL team count from cfl.ca, which could not be opened. We show the widely reported nine teams as UNVERIFIED.
- Team and league valuations (Forbes, Sportico). We left these out on purpose. They are third-party estimates (tier C) and say nothing about jobs.
- Whether the WNBA's March 2026 tentative CBA was later ratified. The league's announcement said it was pending ratification, and we did not find a later official notice.
§
Sources
- Madison Square Garden Sports Corp. Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2026 (New York Knicks and New York Rangers) — U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (EDGAR), 2026-08A
- Atlanta Braves Holdings, Inc. Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2025 — U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (EDGAR), 2026-02A
- Packers' finances remain strong amidst changing NFL landscape (the club's own summary of its fiscal 2026 annual financial report) — Green Bay Packers (packers.com), 2026-07A
- Packers report $753M in FY26 revenue, profit up 54.8% despite $1.1M operating loss — WTAQ / WLUK Fox 11, 2026-07B
- Championship season fuels financial growth for Saskatchewan Roughriders despite unique costs in 2025 (report of the community-owned club's annual general meeting) — SaskToday, 2026-06B
- Bettman says NHL 'revenue is growing' ahead of Stanley Cup Final — NHL.com, 2026-06C
- NFL 2025 National Revenue Tops $14B, Teams Get $450M — Sportico, 2026-07C
- NBA Revenue Projected to Hit $14.3 Billion During 2025-26 Season — Sportico, 2025-11C
- MLB reports record $12.1 billion in revenues for 2024 season — CBS Sports, 2025-01C
- NHL team directory (32 clubs) — NHL.com, 2026-09A
- MLS clubs directory (30 clubs) — Major League Soccer, 2026-09A
- NLL teams directory (14 teams) — National Lacrosse League, 2026-09A
- WNBA teams directory (15 teams in 2026; Cleveland listed for 2028) — WNBA, 2026-09A
- WNBA history page (league approved 24 April 1996, play began June 1997) — WNBA, 2026A
- WNBA and WNBPA reach tentative deal on historic Collective Bargaining Agreement (press release) — WNBA, 2026-03A
- WNBA breaks single-season attendance record — CBS News, 2025-08B
- WNBA Hits 3M Attendance Milestone in Season's Final Week — Front Office Sports, 2025-09C
- PWHL announces 2024 regular-season schedule (inaugural season: six teams, 72 games from 1 January 2024) — Professional Women's Hockey League, 2023-11A
- PWHL site footer: team list for 2026-27 (12 teams) — Professional Women's Hockey League, 2026-09A
- PWHL Weekly Notebook, 27 April 2026 (2025-26 regular-season attendance) — Professional Women's Hockey League, 2026-04A
- PWHL Players Association discloses salaries for the first time — The Boston Globe, 2026-05B
- PWHL Salary Disclosure Shows Just How Far The League Has To Go To Reach Equitable Pay For Players — The Hockey News, 2026-05C
- Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025: NAICS 711200 Spectator Sports, and all-industry national estimates (read through the BLS Public Data API, because bls.gov refuses scripted page requests) — U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2026A
- Job Bank wages, Canada: athletic therapist (NOC 31204), coach and sports scout (NOC 53201), event planner (NOC 12103), ticket taker and usher (NOC 65329), marketing coordinator (NOC 11202), food concession worker (NOC 65201) — Job Bank, Employment and Social Development Canada, 2025-11A
- NBA Early Career Programs — NBA Careers, 2026-09A
- MLB Fellowship Programs (Billy Bean Fellowship, On Deck Sales Program, Digital Content and Voices fellowships) — MLB.com, 2026-09A
- MLB Summer Internship Program — MLB.com, 2026-09A
- More than 200 minority candidates complete NFL's Bill Walsh Diversity Coaching and Nunn-Wooten Scouting Fellowships — NFL.com, 2023-09A
- NHL careers page (about 1,500 league-office employees) — NHL.com, 2026-09A
- How NBA Teams and Owners Make Money: Tickets, TV, Sponsors and More — Sportico, 2025C