XFL players will make an average salary of $55,000 a year, the upstart league wrote in a memo distributed to player agents.
The memo states that players who are drafted and retained by XFL teams will become full-time employees as of December 4, 2019, and if they remain on a roster they will remain employed through May 31, 2020. Between the base salary, a bonus for being active on game days and a bonus for being on the winning team, the average player will make $55,000 a year.
That’s a far cry from the NFL league minimum salary of $495,000, but for players who didn’t make an NFL roster it’s not bad -- especially considering that the XFL has promised all players they’ll be free to leave for an NFL contract offer any time after the XFL Championship Game on April 25. For some players, playing in the XFL might earn them $55,000 and then earn them an NFL roster spot, if they play well in the XFL and get the attention of NFL personnel evaluators.
The XFL has hinted that it might go after some college stars who haven’t yet met the three-year threshold to enter the NFL draft. Those players, presumably, would be offered more lucrative contracts. But the average player will be making $55,000.