With a new football league comes plenty of new questions about how it all works. If you're watching the 2020 season of the XFL, you might be wondering just how much these players are getting paid to play in a secondary football league.
While it's significantly less than what they'd make by playing in the NFL, players in the XFL have a chance at earning a decent amount depending on what position they play. If you look up XFL salaries online you may find a few sites that refer to a four tier system, but those are inaccurate, an XFL spokesperson tells Sporting News.
Instead, the XFL salary structure is fairly simple: quarterbacks get paid more, everyone else gets roughly the same amount. There are bonuses (explained below) and benefits such as housing, meals and more.
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XFL salary structure
- Average salary: $55,000
- Bi-weekly paycheck: $2,080
- Acivation fee: $1,685
- Victory bonus: $2,222
A memo sent from the XFL to agents explained the details of how they'd be paid. Players will be paid on a bi-weekly basis with a base paycheck of $2,080. If they are active for a game they will receive a bonus (activation fee) of $1,685. If their team wins they get an extra bonus of $2,222.
According to the memo sent by the league to agents it says "a player may earn up to $4,947 per game week." That's taking into account half of the base paycheck ($1,040), the activation fee and the victory bonus.
Contracts for players in the XFL this season start from Dec. 3, 2019 to May 31, 2020 if they remain in the league for the full season.
Quarterback salaries in the XFL
Most players in the XFL will be earning roughly the same salary. The main difference is that top quarterbacks are eligible to make more. The new football league has placed on emphasis on quarterback play as commissioner Oliver Luck believes that's the key to having a good product on the field.
According to Yahoo Sports' sources, the top quarterbacks will earn $495,000. Those salaries are likely held for bigger name quarterbacks such as Landry Jones, Cardale Jones and Josh Johnson (potentially among others).
