Pro vs Semi-Pro
Pro vs Semi-Pro. There is no secret that football is one of the greatest sports pastimes in America today. As with every sport, there are certain levels. As with most sports, there are many minor, developmental and semi-pro football leagues around. As we all know, the sport of football has a major league that is dedicated towards professional football and is made for professional football players. There are quite a few distinctions between professional football and semi-professional football. We will go over them in this piece.
Pro Football is the occupation of professional athletes who compete and get paid on a full-time basis. With regards to major professional football leagues, there are two professional football leagues that are operating at the moment . The two major professional football leagues in operation are the National Football League (NFL) and Canadian Football League.
Professional football athletes earn full-time salary on a weekly basis during the regular season with various incentives thrown in depending on the contract. It is not unusual to see professional football athletes get bonuses depending on performance. In terms of salaries, professional football players tend to earn high salaries. The highest salary is in the NFL. As of 2021, the average salary among NFL players is $860,000. On the other hand, the average salary for those that play in the CFL ranges around $60,000 – $80,000. Another key characteristic of a professional football league is the institution of the salary cap. The salary cap is a rule among teams that places a certain limit of the amount of cash that a team could put towards roster salaries.
Semi-pro football is the occupation for football players who do not play football on a full-time basis. Even though they get paid regularly, semi-pro players tend to not as much money as professional athletes. In fact, a major distinction for semi-pro leagues is if the salary of a semi-pro football player is not enough to live on.
Before the league closed its doors, the Arena Football League was on top of the food chain as far as semipro leagues were concerned. Yet, players were only paid an average salary of a little over $20,000 to just over $30,000 a year.
In a stark contrast to professional football leagues, many semipro football leagues who do not pay their players. That means that many semipro football leagues don’t have a salary cap like many professional football leagues do. Additionally, there are some semipro leagues that require players to pay membership dues and to pay for their own equipment.
