NFL officials are a critical part of upholding a high standard of competition in the league. In every game, there are seven NFL officials and a referee on the field to make sure everything’s played by the rules.
Being so important to the game itself, it’d stand to reason that the league stuffed with teams valued in the billions would pay its officials a hefty salary.
As it turns out, NFL referees certainly aren’t pushed for cash – especially when you consider that being an official is a part-time job that only runs for seven months at the most. Here’s how much NFL refs make.
How Much Does The Average NFL Referee Make?
The most recent hard figures that we can go off of as to how much an NFL referee makes indicate that they earn US$205,000 per year on average.
In 2019, the NFL and the NFL Referees Association came to a new collective bargaining agreement that’ll be in place until 2026, and with it, the amount that the average NFL ref makes likely increased.
In the new CBA, NFL referees also received strong pension plans, which were reported to be formalized into 401(k) programs. So, the value of the NFL ref role is increased significantly on the average wage offered.
However, seniority and roles will influence how much each NFL ref earns across a season. From there, referees who have a strong season could also find themselves in for a heftier payday in the postseason.
So, while it’s always worth monitoring how the referees are performing when considering placing live wagers in the betting online, doing so can also help to inform you as to who will officiate the Super Bowl.
Who is the Highest Paid NFL Official?
Individual referee salaries aren’t disclosed by the NFL, just as the average or range of pay for NFL referees hasn’t been made public, but we can go off of some reports that hint at the top earners.
Among active refs in the NFL, Brad Allen and Craig Wrolstad are the cited most senior referees and reportedly the highest earners, pulling in annual salaries of US$250,000.
With a US$250,000 annual salary, the highest-paid NFL refs stand to make an average of US$13,888 per game in the regular season, which runs for 18 weeks.
When the playoffs come around, NFL officials can net a bonus, but it’s said that most will only partake in one postseason game. If chosen for the Super Bowl, NFL refs reel in another hefty bonus to pad their paycheques.
How Much Does an NFL Ref Get Paid for the Super Bowl?
In the playoffs, NFL refs can make an additional US$1,000 to US$5,000 in each game, but making it to the Super Bowl will pay them a bonus of up to US$50,000. Even for the highest-paid NFL refs, that’s a 20% bump!
Best of all, you don’t even need to be among the presumed most senior or highest-paid refs to get a shot at officiating the Super Bowl. For Super Bowl LVII – while admittedly one of the veteran NFL refs – Carl Cheffers refereed the game.
Cheffers certainly had to earn his bonus at Super Bowl LVII, with the game ending by a three-point margin and there being what could be seen as a decisive penalty call on James Bradberry of the Philadelphia Eagles for holding.
If the NFL odds are anything to go by, a rematch of the ten-penalty-call game is on the cards; the Kansas City Chiefs are favoured to win it all at +600, and the Eagles are close behind with odds of +700 to take that one extra step.
NFL refs are paid well to keep the integrity of the game in check each game week, and we can safely assume that now, the average NFL ref takes home more than US$205,000 per season.
*Credit for all images in this article belongs to AP Photo*
