How Much Do CFL Players Make?
Julie asked me that question as I sit here watching some of the Grey Cup, the championship game of the Canadian Football League. I knew that their salaries were meagre compared to bigger professional leagues, but I wasn’t sure of specifics. TSN Magazine (it looks like that link is broken–TSN ought to know better) to the rescue:
Minimum salaries in the CFL this year are $30,000 for rookies and $32,000 for veterans. The minimum increases to $35,000 next year as a result of the CFL’s new Collective Bargaining Agreement. The average CFL salary is about $45,000 Canadian.
Starters, excluding quarterbacks, can command anywhere between $60,000 and $120,000, depending on their position. Quarterbacks are generally the highest-paid players, making between $150,000 and $300,000.
Later, the article discusses other jobs many CFL players take:
The effect of low salaries donned [sic] on me while I was interviewing Edmonton kicker Sean Fleming during practice at Commonwealth Stadium Wednesday. “I work full-time year-round at Price Waterhouse Coopers. I’ve done that for a year and a half. Before that, I was an investment advisor with National Bank Financial. So basically I’ve got one full-time job and this is my part-time job,” he said…
Before joining the CFL, Edmonton quarterback Ricky Ray was delivering Frito Lay potato chips for $43,000 U.S. a year - more than he’s made in Edmonton this year. That’s just plain sad.
I don’t think it’s sad. I think it’s probably fair. These guys are being reasonably reimbursed for doing something that they love. The only sad part is that they couldn’t stick in a league that paid them more. I’m guessing the owners aren’t shafting them or anything–the league is simply small, and small-time.
On a related note, I see that the Black Eyed Peas’ corporate whoredom continues.
November 28th, 2005 at 11:09 am
I remember a couple years ago the CFL had a really clever ad campaign going (in the days when I still watched commercials). Players were decked out in their full uniforms, performing tasks like mowing the lawn, grocery shopping, car-pooling, etc. The catch line was “these guys are just like you” or something like that… It was a nice appeal to the everyman .
November 28th, 2005 at 4:47 pm
If only we could get NHL players to agree to salaries like that, I could actually go see a hockey game once in a while.
November 28th, 2005 at 8:58 pm
Ricky Ray is the highest paid player in the CFL this year with a salary of over $400,000. The article you cite is three years old.
November 28th, 2005 at 9:25 pm
I may be the only person under 70 who feels this way, but I’m embarrassed by the Black Eyed Peas every time I hear “My Humps.”
Yech.
November 29th, 2005 at 1:41 pm
To be honest, $60,000 to $120,000 is a pretty low figure when you consider that the majority of these players will spend their post-football years suffering from a multitude of severe and chronic injuries.
Basically, how much is worth the cost of a hip replacement and daily regime of pain killers by the time you’re 35?
May 12th, 2006 at 2:09 pm
They’re having fun playing Football to entertain a few peoples a few times a year and having free steroids.
60,000$ to 120,000$ a year is way enough.
Considering how the NFL and NHL players are paid this is a real joke and such a darn waste of money, they should invest this money in military purposes, and wherever needed in Canada.
October 11th, 2006 at 11:44 pm
The bottom line is that we need people to support the league!
Watch the games, go to the games and show it.
Look at Sask. They continue to show support to a team that has not given them a lot to be happy about, but the entertainment value is extraordinary and they are true fans of the game.
If they had a bigger stadium they probably would gain more support.
We as Canadians need to recognize that this league needs more from us to prosper.
I am in a town in northern BC and the CFL fans a few and far between. They do not even care. I never realized how lame a lot of people can be. It is all Hockey.
October 28th, 2006 at 11:18 am
I was just trying to have a nice cheeseburger picnic here until you guys friged it all up you apple loving basketball fans
November 11th, 2006 at 10:11 pm
I love the CFL… yeah they don’t get nearly as much $$$ as other PROFESSIONAL teams, but the game tickets also aren’t nearly as much… I am a big CFL fan… I have this saying: An NFL game is like watching a CFL game in slow motion.
P.S I captitalized PROFESSIONAL, because I strongly believe that is just what the CFL is… the game and players (well the core group), is just as good as any other professional sports league out there.
November 17th, 2006 at 3:27 pm
60-120 sounds reasonable… but 35 sounds a bit low to me. Then again, sports do rely on fans to be successful. I don’t know too many people who go to Argos games… even when free tickets are offered. Football just isn’t as big as it is in the states. Not sure how hard it is to make it to the CFL but I wouldn’t think it would be easy hence they should get paid more. Although the league does consist of some NFL rejects.
Anyways what it comes down to is… there aren’t enough CFL fans.
November 23rd, 2006 at 3:26 pm
DAMM !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
March 24th, 2007 at 5:08 pm
The problem I have with the CFL is how shabby the league treats Canadian players. A large number of great Canadian athletes are wasting their abilities playing football. The Americans which really run the teams will never give Canadians players their fair due. My advise to parents raising atheletic kids in Canada have the duty to direct them into hockey. It is the only spot that they will be given a decent appraisal. We should quit putting money and effort in high school and university football but replace with more opportunity for hockey.
July 9th, 2007 at 2:27 pm
I Am french, so please excuse my english.
Money is in the NFL but the show is in the CFL!
It’s as simple as that. Even John Madden in 2005 said that they are to many borring games in the NFL. Not a surprise that the NFL Europe closed. They played the same type of football then the NFL.
I see more and more americans sites awsking questions about the CFL. When they’re been asked about rhe CFL the fist thing that many comes to mind is: ‘it’s a more open game, more exiting’.
So Go alouettes go!
Et vive la CFL! Bonjours!
July 10th, 2007 at 4:42 am
MONEY IS IN THE NFL BUT THE SHOW IS IN THE CFL !
(L’argent se trouve dans la NFL mais le spectacle se trouve dans la CFL)
I’ve been saying that for years. It’s time that my english friends knowns about that truth. Don’t you thing so ? End I’m not the only one…
«I am American and I moved to Toronto about 6 years ago, from Florida.
I have found a real love for the CFL and for the Argos. Personally I think that NFL is way overhyped and when you watch it you think to yourself “That’s IT???”. Always expecting more and waiting for something spectacular, which never actually happens. The CFL is exciting football with exciting players.
In Toronto, there seems to be a lot of NFL fans. Their rationale is “Toronto is a world-class city, we deserve a world-class league.”
The fact is that the American media has over-hyped the NFL so much that even now Canadians think its a world-class league. They’re just wannabees who want to have something in common with Americans. Its ‘cool’ in Toronto to talk about the NFL, because there are no domestic teams and it shows that you’re “in” if you are knowledgable about the NFL. They wear NFL jerseys over CFL jerseys to show off. »
«- Think its pretty harsh to say that Canadians are unpatriotic because of the people who are NFL fans. The CFL is very popular in Canada, its 2nd to hockey. In Macleans magazine there was an article about how hockey is #1 in Canada, about 30% of canadians say that the CFL is their favourite sport with 13% being MLB and NFL. And i’m sure you’d get people who like the CFL and the NFL.
The fact is that the NFL is more accessable to watch. With there being so few teams in the CFL if you want to watch football, chances are you’ll have to watch the NFL since there are more options. I love the CFL, I think the game is much better then the NFL, its faster, its more fan friendly, and I prefer it to the NFL. But its not always on TV while the NFL is.
I say F U to those people, the CFL is a better league, with different, more exciting kinds of players. Too bad some Canadians are too stuck up to realize it. It puzzles me that Canadians would be so un-patriotic, as well. The CFL is the best professional league you have, and a damn good one.
If I were Canadian, I would much rather watch Toronto vs. Montreal, then Houston vs. Arizona, for example. And even though I am not, I still do prefer the former. Maybe a Canadian NFL fan would like to fill me in?» - USA/Canadian blog.
I’m not perfectly bilingual put if a french canadien can hunderstand what americans fans say about our football you should understand it too !
Go als Go !
VIVE la CFL !
Signed : CFLman
November 11th, 2007 at 5:28 pm
To the CFLman, you are okay with me. You are right too much hype about the NFL, I have seen too many Super Bores. And beside CFL’ers do not kill dogs. lol
November 12th, 2007 at 3:20 pm
As a Canadian NFL fan, here’s why I prefer the NFL to an obscene amount over the CFL.
I don’t understand this talk about CFL being faster. Because of the lack of skill (i.e. every good player being an NFL reject), and only three downs. What you have is a game of special teams, which is outrageously boring.
I live in Calgary, and have been to a few games. Each game, I’ve seen 6 running plays, 10 interceptions, and 80 punts.
I can’t stand Canadian rules. I hate that you can miss a field goal, yet still get a point.
Why would you ever punt?
Field goals can generally be kicked longer, and if they have to return it anyways, then what is the point of punting? You can a) still get a point out of it, and b) still give the other team bad field position, even though it was your team that wasn’t able to produce a fresh set of downs.
It’s exactly like the NHL (as much as I love hockey too) rewarding a team that loses 1 point, so long as they don’t lose throughout the normal 60 minutes of the game. It totally defeats the purpose, and the core idea of the game.
It’s not a question of patriotism, it’s a question of entertainment. I’ll loudly sing the national anthem, and say something to those that talk through it. I’ll drink my litres upon litres of beer. I’ll listen to Canadian music such as The Hip, The Guess Who, Rush, Bare Naked Ladies etc. I’ll tell people I’m Canadian and be proud of it when on a trip. I’ll watch hockey and root hard for the Canadian team. What I won’t do is watch punt after punt after punt after punt, purely because I’m supporting my country’s league.
I once was renting out my house, and a CFL player came to look at it. He asked if I get traded, what are the cancellation fees like? I thought that it was very sad that they have to think about that.
This is their choice, and I shouldn’t have to be called un-patriotic just because I don’t like watching a lesser league, with lesser rules, and lesser players.
December 7th, 2007 at 5:22 pm
Jarett Payton whom played in the NFL was surprise how fast was the CFL and finds it hard to adapt to the league. It is a much wider field but it is hard to have success in rushing. Why, because of the defense mobility, ask Ricky Williams. «Because of the lack of skill (i.e. every good player being an NFL reject» You forget that many former NFL players don’t make it in the CFL. If it was the lack of skill, former NFL players would have been stars in the CFL but it is not the case. It is more the lack of high or weigh. That’s why a very talented player like Charles Roberts plays in the CFL; because he is too small, he never had a chance in the NFL. Keton Keith a former CFL player now plays in the NFL, lack of skill???
Many can’t stand the NFL rules in the tiny football field.
« I live in Calgary, and have been to a few games. Each game, I’ve seen 6 running plays, 10 interceptions, and 80 punts. » Games with lots of interceptions you see them in NFL too. You prefer running game? well NFL it’s for you. Most of the tine two yards at a time… So you most have loved the London NFL game 13 to 10 or the Miami Pittsburg game 3-0. The NFL ruling served you good… But for others, it is not that kind of show they want to see.
Signed: CFLman
January 9th, 2008 at 2:48 pm
wow that is not alot you try hard to win a grey cup and you do but get a sucky pay mount its stupid i live in manitoba but i am all about the saskatchewan roughriders.NFL players get so much more $$$ but they do the same thing as the CFL players sucks right
January 24th, 2008 at 4:19 am
Test-o-rama
January 28th, 2008 at 3:48 pm
I know two cfl players personally and have met on many occasions with them and some of there friends from the nfl(former and present) if you sit down with them and ask in terms of skill between the league there is no difference. This is from there mouths….”they are both pro leagues. Lots of times a player dosent make a roster not because there not good enough but because the need for that specific position isnt needed. as one present nfl qb said the cfl has football players and the nfl has football players.”
February 17th, 2008 at 10:58 am
I am dissapointed the CFL has lost so much interest.I remember grey cup 1983 when the CFL was more interesting than hockey.So much hoopla,people dancing on the street,etc.After that year it was all downhill for the league.I wish to see that same level of excitement back to the league some day.
April 4th, 2008 at 7:23 am
Nice article. Stop feeling sorry for football players that dont make the big dollars just because they will have medical problems later. We know the risk from the first time we have our bell rung when were like 12 years old THIS SPORT HURTS PEOPLE. Im a former player that didnt make the big money and if you dont want the health problems do something else.
May 20th, 2008 at 4:33 pm
“Field goals can generally be kicked longer, and if they have to return it anyways, then what is the point of punting? You can a) still get a point out of it, and b) still give the other team bad field position, even though it was your team that wasn’t able to produce a fresh set of down.”
Bryn
If you took the effort to learn a little bit about the rules that you are attacking then you would realize that the single point is only awarded if a missed field goal is kicked through the endzone and out of play.
Since you’re saying that the CFL is just a boring special teams game (i disagree with that statement) i’ll point out a few reasons why CFL special tems play is better than NFL special teams play. A) No fair catch. B) A Punt must be returned, you may not let the ball roll around until the kicking team recovers it. C) A punt or missed field goal that is caught in the endzone must be returned or the kicking team recieves a point.
Those are the three reason why i love CFL speacial teams and am left feeling robbed of action when the NFL field goal/punt teams take the field.
July 18th, 2008 at 4:33 pm
lets all remeber that CFL players only work 6 months of the year, so makin even 30 grand in 6 months is plenty, considering most players work in the off season.
July 19th, 2008 at 5:53 am
NFL player practice squad players make the average amount of a CFL starter, excluding quarterbacks. But practice squad is like an on call you can be on a team’s squad for a week, the next your fired, and then your back like 3 weeks later, only to be fired about 4 weeks later, it’s inconsistent.
minimum wage for an NFL kicker is like 300, 000, as much as a CFL starting QB.
Canada does not have a big economy that’s why the get paid low. The CFL is a great league, it’s second to the NFL before AFL. It is. It’s just that the economy. Canada can’t even afford to have a team in the country’s capital city.
July 19th, 2008 at 11:30 pm
Yes. Compared to other big leagues, CFL players are paid way, way, way lesser. And for rookies… what if you were a rookie and you broke your hip during a game or practise. There goes most of your money ($30,000) trying to fix your hip. But I still love the CFL and a whole lot funner to watch then the NFL. By the way, its sucks there is no CFL games… only fricken NFL games.
July 26th, 2008 at 11:00 am
I love the cfl
i mean its obvious they dont have as much skill as nfl players
but theyre determined.
goooo Argoss
and their pay is enough to work on the mortgage ,cloth the kids and eat food..
and thats all you need in lifee.
September 13th, 2008 at 5:59 pm
What’s all this talk about their wage and breaking body parts. This is Canada, we have health care here, it doesn’t cost us 50,000 dollars to spend one night in the hospital. I agree that the wages are a little low, but it shows that these guys love football, not just money. If they don’t like the wages what other choice do they have if they want to play football, arena league, lol.
September 15th, 2008 at 8:45 pm
I play highschool football in calgary,
My coach used to play for the toronto argonauts
The reason why most of the CFL players play is because they enjoy the game.
Many come back after their careers and help coach cfl teams, university teams and highschool teams alike. The CFL is based more towards the people who enjoy the sport and are fine doing it without getting payed seven or even six digit paychecks.