Barcelona spends more money on wages than any other club in the world and has become the first sports team in history to top £10 million ($13.76m) a year in average first-team pay.
According to the Sporting Intelligence website’s latest Global Sports Salary Survey, the average basic first-team pay for the 2018-19 season at the La Liga giants is £10,454,259 ($13,755,714) — a rise of a third for the Catalans since the 2017/18 season.
It is the first time Barcelona has topped the survey since 2012, when the club’s average wage was half of the current sum.
La Liga rivals Real Madrid is second, with its first-team players earning an average of £8.1 million ($10.6m) a year, while the next six spots are filled by NBA teams with the Oklahoma Thunder — last year’s table-toppers — third (£7.85m/$10.32m).
Thunder, Golden State Warriors (£7.82m/$10.29m) and Washington Wizards (£7.63m/$10.04m) become the first American teams with average pay of more than $10m per player per year. Read more