ESPN the Magazine, in partnership with Sportingintelligence Global Salary Survey, released the payroll spending of 294 teams in 15 leagues in seven sports from around the world.
So where do the local teams stack up?
The biggest spenders in the Bay Area on both the total payroll and on a per player perspective are the Giants. The Giants total payroll of $148,239,158 ranks 14th in the world , while their per player spending of $5,490,339 ranks 17th.
Among the teams in the Bay Area the Giants are easily the biggest spenders. The Warriors are the next-biggest spenders on a per player basis, but fall short by $686k which puts them 11 spots behind the Giants. On the total payroll front, the 49ers are the next-highest but are still behind by nearly $40 million.
Here is the full list of the what the Bay Area teams spend and where they rank:
| Team | Total Payroll | Total Rank | Average Per Player | Rank | Last year | % Change from 2013 |
| San Francisco Giants | 148,239,158 | 14 | 5,490,339 | 17 | 23 | 9.6% |
| San Francisco 49ers | 110,435,293 | 37 | 2,083,685 | 140 | 106 | -12.8% |
| Oakland Athletics | 77,220,900 | 79 | 2,490,997 | 100 | 139 | 19.1% |
| Golden State Warriors | 67,254,306 | 98 | 4,803,879 | 28 | 30 | 13.0% |
| San Jose Sharks | 66,349,166 | 101 | 2,551,891 | 95 | -87 | -3% |
| Oakland Raiders | 62,468,795 | 117 | 1,178,657 | 182 | 173 | -26.1% |
| San Jose Earthquakes | 3,795,819 | 273 | 140,586 | 265 | 268 | 25.1% |
Some other interesting notes:
- The Oakland A’s are the poster team for getting good results on a budget, yet comparing to other leagues they actually spend quite a bit of money. The outspend all the other Bay Area teams other than the Giants and 49ers and trail only the Giants, Warriors and Sharks in average per player.
- For how much money the NFL makes, the salary cap has done a great job in keeping spending down on the high end of the spectrum. The highest-spending team in the survey is the Minnesota Vikings, who rank 23rd in total spending but rank just 115th on a per player basis.
- The MLS has a long way to go to get up the level of other North American sports, and maybe even SEC football after reading this story.
- Lastly, here is a breakdown of the average and median payrolls for some of the biggest leagues to get some context for where each of the teams rank and how much each league spends.
| Average | Median | |
| Bundesliga | $56,061,455 | $44,764,330 |
| EPL | $86,344,469 | $66,087,727 |
| La Liga | $46,165,691 | $27,043,113 |
| MLB | $112,219,082 | $99,579,071 |
| MLS | $5,356,907 | $3,762,180 |
| NBA | $66,477,555 | $64,420,983 |
| NFL | $103,666,206 | $107,634,979 |
| NHL | $61,652,436 | $62,467,500 |
| NPB | $16,333,382 | $13,795,640 |
| Serie A | $56,283,511 | $33,849,370 |
Notes on the salaries:
Figures exclude endorsements, appearance fees and sponsorships and have been converted to U.S. dollars. The lists include money paid in salaries to players who form the “first-team squad” or active roster across a season. Salaries for the survey are taken from the following years:
MLB, MLS: 2014
NBA, NHL: 2013-14
NFL,, NPB (Nippon Professional Baseball): 2013
EPL, La Liga, Serie A, Bundesliga: 2012-13
