Salaries in pro cycling

[doperhopper]

Yeah. And that's what you get when you win the biggest race in the world. It's just a joke, the way the money is distributed in cycling (or actually, it isn't distributed, it just all goes to the organizers)

sounds similar to the ancient NHL times (when the players got just few breadcrumbs) => needs big strike?

 

[ElChingon]

And no, I am not considering a career as a cyclist.

Why not? You brought it up.

The base salary seems ok to me, unless you want some last minute signee on the team getting 100k for not racing much. I'm sure any 2nd year or greater rider is making at least 100k especially if they have a quality win or have done some good racing.

 

[Christian]

The life of someone who works 10 hrs a day for a building company or on the factory floor is a thousand times harder than the life of a cycling pro.

The life of a cycling pro doesn´t have anything to do with real life, with an average job. Their admittedly painful moments are rare, the kilometers in the really painful "red zone" won´t be more than 500 a year. The pain they face can´t be compared to the pain you have in other jobs. They don´t fear these pains, the motivation includes these pains, the pressure is a luxury problem for most of them.

Yes I agree but then the job of a cyclist is also to travel all the time for example. I would consider that very hard on someone's quality of life after a while and that is maybe not well enough compensated ...

Especially neo-pro's earn ridiculously little I think, they have a lower minimum wage than the others IINM.

 

[The Hitch]

Not enough.

Amen brother.

 

[c&cfan]

Amen brother.

Sorry, but only someone very blind or stupid (no offense hitch) can even think that.

they earn (especially the top riders) much more than what would be acceptable.

just because other sports treat this subject in a much more moronic way, it does not mean that cyclists deserve more.

anyone who thinks that ronaldo deserves millions after millions per year should be exterminated.

Bill gates? larry?buffet? all the Walmart guys? the mexican engineer? i get it and understand that scale of money..

these guys? give me a break..

 

[TheEnoculator]

I heard that a neo-pro riding for pro team makes about $30,000 US a year. I guess this is not bad if you are 18, 19 years old and skipping school to ride bikes.

 

[DominicDecoco]

Sorry, but only someone very blind or stupid (no offense hitch) can even think that.

they earn (especially the top riders) much more than what would be acceptable.

just because other sports treat this subject in a much more moronic way, it does not mean that cyclists deserve more.

anyone who thinks that ronaldo deserves millions after millions per year should be exterminated.

Bill gates? larry?buffet? all the Walmart guys? the mexican engineer? i get it and understand that scale of money..

these guys? give me a break..

What a load of rubbish. Ronaldo earns exactly what he's worth for his club.

 

[Zinoviev Letter]

The average figure may well be broadly accurate, but it's a mean not a median. The median earning - ie what the average rider is earning, rather than all of the riders wages put together and then divided by the number of riders - will be very substantially lower.

Take Saxo Bank as an example. They were probably paying Contador more than half of their total wage bill.

 

[Arnout]

What a load of rubbish. Ronaldo earns exactly what he's worth for his club.

Not really as his club is indebted and needs tax breaks due to lack of cash flow.

 

[richtea]

I think given the financial difficulties faced by many clubs you could make a compelling case that footballers are systematically overvalued. Much like Spanish houses, or Vodafone stocks around 2000.

 

[DominicDecoco]

Not really as his club is indebted and needs tax breaks due to lack of cash flow.

Yeah, that's definitely Ronaldos fault with his 60 goals in this season being a huge part of securing a top spot in La Liga, semi finals in CL, shirt sales €100 million in revenues - and that was in 2010... ad two more years to it.., new sponsors, investors etc...

Money, money, money.

I think Real Madrid will cope... With a revenue of 695 million dollars and a operating income of 214 million dollars in 2012...

 

[Kopuliak]

In comparison with football, basketball, baseball players cyclists make next to nothing while you could argue that they do so much more for their money.

I do agree but it's not fair comparsion.Football stars fills stadiums and clubs have a stable income in millions per one game.NHL club like Chicago Blackhawks had sold stadium with ~20 K ppl last 5 years, each ticket is ~ 100 USD, so it's 2 millions per game.They make more money in 5-10 games just from tickets as is annual budget of cycling Pro team. So they can pay their players millions.Cycling fans along the road do not pay anything.

 

[rxgqgxnyfz]

Dmitry Konyshev mentioned salaries and Katusha's budget in this interview:

http://translate.google.com/transla...ww.gazeta.ru/sport/2012/05/02/a_4569497.shtml

It's a very good read on it's own too.

According to him Katusha's budget is somewhere around 15 Mln Euro. The lowest rider can earn is 40 000 euro, and Menchov gets 2 Mln.

Astana's budget is comparable.

I think this year with Nibali and his pals coming in AND Gasparotto and Iglinsky winning major classics budget will have to rise. Kreuziger's sum in a new contract should he take it will be slashed, but even then.

I shudder to think what BMC's budget is...

 

[dlwssonic]

Basketball players do make a lot of money too like this guy

 

[orangerider]

I do agree but it's not fair comparsion.Football stars fills stadiums and clubs have a stable income in millions per one game.NHL club like Chicago Blackhawks had sold stadium with ~20 K ppl last 5 years, each ticket is ~ 100 USD, so it's 2 millions per game.They make more money in 5-10 games just from tickets as is annual budget of cycling Pro team. So they can pay their players millions.Cycling fans along the road do not pay anything.

Good point. It's also fairly very expensive infrastructure wise, with putting up barriers, security staff, obtaining road permits, and helicopter cams, road cams, all in real time transmission (fixed wing aircraft) are very expensive compared to stadiums/arenas where all that stuff is essentially permanently attached equipment.

 

[Marcus135]

Why not? I appreciate what they do, but if it's not enough for them they should sod off frankly. 99% of population will make less than them.

Kobe Bryant individually earns about 24 million before endorsements a year, that would be enough to fund two entire ProTour teams and im fairly sure that the average cyclist would put in just as many hours training, if not more. So yes in comparison to normal people they earn a bit more but compared to other sports they are paid far far less.

Cyclists earn every dollar they make and in my opinion they have every right to be paid more.

 

[Arnout]

Good point. It's also fairly very expensive infrastructure wise, with putting up barriers, security staff, obtaining road permits, and helicopter cams, road cams, all in real time transmission (fixed wing aircraft) are very expensive compared to stadiums/arenas where all that stuff is essentially permanently attached equipment.

Exactly. In most sports, there are three major sources of income for a team: sponsors, TV money and ticket sales. For a cycling team, it's only the first. The organizer is a third party in cycling, not like in many other sports where the host team sells the tickets and organizes the match. Result of this is that TV money is staying with the organizers, which is no problem for me.

Right now, cycling is more or less sustainable. Individual organizers and teams are sometimes in trouble, but there are no major issues with one group or another. Compare that to football (soccer): the players earn millions, but many clubs are in deep financial trouble.

Kobe Bryant individually earns about 24 million before endorsements a year, that would be enough to fund two entire ProTour teams and im fairly sure that the average cyclist would put in just as many hours training, if not more. So yes in comparison to normal people they earn a bit more but compared to other sports they are paid far far less.

Cyclists earn every dollar they make and in my opinion they have every right to be paid more.

Well, this isn't how the world rolls. Cyclists still have shorter work days than many of us. According to your logic, they should earn less than normal people. It is simply a supply and demand issue, and as long as pro cycling is sustainable and the riders are able to make a decent to a very good living out of it, I don't see why they are entitled to earn more. Sure, I wouldn't object at all if they did, but I do think those comparisons are a bit silly.

Remember, no-one is forced to cycle a bike for a job. If cyclists want to take their chance to earn more elsewhere, they're more than free to do so.

Yeah, that's definitely Ronaldos fault with his 60 goals in this season being a huge part of securing a top spot in La Liga, semi finals in CL, shirt sales €100 million in revenues - and that was in 2010... ad two more years to it.., new sponsors, investors etc...

Money, money, money.

I think Real Madrid will cope... With a revenue of 695 million dollars and a operating income of 214 million dollars in 2012...

Football (soccer) as a sport in Spain and many other European countries is not sustainable at the current level. I'm sure Ronaldo brings in his money, but he needs team mates and either in the past or at the moment Madrid paid more than they earned, needing government help. It's not sustainable if you factor out populist politics. Not the way I would want to organize my sport.

 

[TourOfSardinia]

remember big plus can mean big minus.
Di Luca got sanctioned 2 years salary IIRC

 

[simo1733]

I notice that the EPL have just signed TV rights contracts for 1 Billion a year for three years.Even the premier league themselves were suprised at the size of the bids.

 

[TatryTour2013]

Sagan

Wondering how much Sagan is earning - I am pretty sure that he is cheapest cycling per win ... I know he started with very basic sallary 2 years ago - maybe lowest possible - but they extended contract twice - so probably he has more now.

 

[online-rider]

I think as a neo-pro you also get an apartment along with your base salary. And when you factor that into it. As well as all the kit/ bikes you can sell to amateur riders and promotional opportunities of being a pro, they would never be left begging.

 

[Azabael]

I think as a neo-pro you also get an apartment along with your base salary. And when you factor that into it. As well as all the kit/ bikes you can sell to amateur riders and promotional opportunities of being a pro, they would never be left begging.

Is it allowed to sell stuff from your 'work'?

 

[*Falze*]

Is it allowed to sell stuff from your 'work'?

I dont, i just steal it and keep it for myself.

Never short of paper clips or staples in my house

 

[online-rider]

Is it allowed to sell stuff from your 'work'?

I dont know but I've known ex pro bikes to be sold in shops before. Whether its strictly "allowed" is another question.

 

[saganftw]

Wondering how much Sagan is earning - I am pretty sure that he is cheapest cycling per win ... I know he started with very basic sallary 2 years ago - maybe lowest possible - but they extended contract twice - so probably he has more now.

he signed new contract,if i remember correctly it was around 20k euro per month

btw he just got a new mercedes from mercedes company,some marketing stuff