Over the last decade or two there has been a very large change in the amount of money that a professional athlete makes which has a lot to do with advertising and sponsorship deals. Back in the days of the 1980s, Dan Marino may have been one of the highest payed players in the league however compared to todays standards of millions of dollars per exceptional player his NFL players salary was just a drop in the ocean. The New York Jets have hundreds of millions of dollars worth of salaries going to their players alone and this is besides all of the other staff, admin, coaches and medical. Their highest payed salaries start past ten million dollars which is for a standard long term contract plus all the benefits that the players receive on the side.

Salaries have changed over the years because sport has become a main part of society and has been a part of culture and history in many countries. It is not only the american NFL players who get the big bucks as you will find that in the UK the top players like Beckham are on a very good contract too. This new way of life for professional sports stars is only the beginning and is slowly stretching to other commercialized sport like cricket and even the extreme sports.

This season in the NFL you will find Chris Gamble playing for the Caroline Panthers getting fourteen million dollars per year and fifty-three million for his contract. Another favorite is Jay Cutler earning over fifteen million per year with a smaller two year contract of thirty million. The bigger the player and the more he does for his team gives great rewards for the professional players in todays NFL.