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Few sports officials earn a living officiating. Most earn a modest return to supplement primary earnings. Let's start from the top and work down. Officials for the 4 most popular U.S. professional leagues earn base pay between $25,000 and $400,000 per year with substantial expense and benefit packages.
| Big 4 Officiating Yearly Compensation1, 2 |
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# of Officials |
Base Pay |
| League |
Games3 |
Total |
Game |
Low $ |
High $ |
| NBA |
82 |
62 |
3 |
90,000 |
400,000 |
| NFL |
16 |
120 |
7 |
25,000 |
75,000 |
| NHL |
82 |
74 |
4 |
115,000 |
280,000 |
| MLB |
162 |
84 |
4 |
84,000 |
300,000 |
1sources: askmen.com, Major League Baseball, N.Y. Times
2Air fare and other expenses are paid by all leagues. MLB, the
NBA, NFL and NHL also provide retirement benefits.
3Games per team per season
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Earnings for college officials vary widely particularly across division and conference boundaries. Consider basketball officials. Entry level men's division 1 officials earn around $600 to $700 in some lower profile conferences. Some game fees exceed $1,500 in elite conferences. Travel expenses are an add-on and also differ widely.
2010 NCAA D1 Tournament Basketball officiating fees will increase dramatically over 2009 levels. First round rates are up from $750 to $1,000 (33%), regional rates from $1,000 to $1,400 (40%) and final four rates from $1,400 to $2,000 (43%). In addition, accommodations, transportation expenses a $75 per diem are covered.
This is a de facto acknowledgment that the top officials who work the tournament were underpaid relative to regular season earnings.
For the 2008/2009 season, the top 20 D1 officials (by number of games officiated) each worked nearly 100 D1 games. For the remainder of the roughly 1,000 D1 officials, the number of games worked declined steadily with the bottom quarter barely working any D1 games at all.
These observations are based on boxscore statistics from statsheet.com. While adjustments may be required to arrive at exact numbers, the picture is clear. It is no surprise that many D1 officials continue to work lower levels of college ball to fill out officiating schedules. Many lower level college officials also complete their schedules with high school assignments.
The drop from D1 pay is steep. D2 rates are frequently around $200 per game. D3 and junior college rates are in the $50 to $150 range. Expense compensation is modest, when provided. Relative to high school officials, college officials are required to arrive earlier and travel farther for their single game assignment in a day. When these factors are considered, a “small ball” college official could often take home more by officiating 1 or 2 local high school games on a given day.
High school varsity rates vary from as low as $36 per game in Louisiana to $100+ in New York City and Long Island, NY. Some locales provide travel reimbursement beyond a specified distance, others do not. Texas seems to be unique in determining fees based on spectator attendance.
| High School Officiating - Money On The Side |
| As an example, assume an official works for $50 per game, 6 games a week, 20 weeks a year. The $6,000 total won't replace a day job, but can be a significant contribution. |
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