A few days after Carlos Alcaraz lifted the trophy at the 2025 French Open, headlines swirled online: “Carlos loses half his prize money!” or “French Open champ walks away with only half the check!” As always, these kinds of viral posts tend to spark outrage. How could they do this to him? But here’s the truth: Carlos didn’t “lose” anything—he simply paid taxes, just like every other professional who earns a paycheck.
What this moment reveals, though, is a common misunderstanding: many fans assume that what they see on TV—the check handed to the winner, the announcement of a team’s salary cap, or a splashy sponsorship deal—is what athletes actually pocket. In reality, an athlete’s income is layered, varied by sport, and shaped by league structures, national tax laws, bonus incentives, and yes, postseason performance.
In a previous blog, we dove deep into the world of sponsorships—how brand endorsements, sneaker deals, and commercials form a massive part of athletes’ public-facing income. But this time, we’re focused on the actual compensation athletes earn from their sport itself: prize money, purses, salaries, and bonuses. Let’s pull back the curtain.
1. Prize Money: The Individual Athlete’s Payday
Let’s begin with tennis, where Carlos Alcaraz’s recent win brought this issue to light.
At the French Open 2025, the men’s singles champion earned €2.4 million in prize money. Now, that sounds like a lot—and it is—but depending on residency and taxation treaties, Carlos could be taxed at over 45% in France, plus additional tax in Spain on his worldwide income. After agent fees (~10%), coach and physio salaries, and business manager cuts, he might walk away with somewhere between 40–55% of the gross total.
This is not unique to tennis. In golf, the PGA Tour publishes purses (total prize money for an event) and player winnings. Scottie Scheffler might win $3.6 million at The Players Championship, but he too pays taxes in the host state or country, his team, and the PGA Tour itself (which is structured as a nonprofit but still takes a share).
The key here is this: prize money is gross. What athletes actually take home is significantly less—especially in sports where individual players have to pay for their own support team, travel, and training infrastructure.
2. Purses and Distribution in Combat and Racing Sports
In boxing, MMA, and auto racing, the word purse often replaces “prize money,” but the idea is similar: it’s the total payout available for a match or race, divided according to contract terms.
In boxing, the purse split is heavily negotiated. A fight between Canelo Álvarez and a lesser-known challenger might have a $50 million purse, but the champion could take 70–80% depending on market value. However, the purse is not the full story—PPV points, streaming revenue shares, and gate receipts can massively inflate earnings.
Similarly, in Formula 1, while drivers earn a base salary from their teams (more on that below), the teams themselves earn prize money based on their performance in the Constructors’ Championship. The total F1 prize pool is over $1 billion, but it’s distributed via a complicated formula that rewards historic success, current ranking, and private deals (Ferrari, for instance, receives a legacy bonus).
Unlike tennis or golf, where prize money goes directly to athletes, in combat and motor sports, the purse is negotiated, and the distribution is highly individual.
3. Salaries in Team Sports: The Baseline Income
While tennis players have to win to earn, athletes in team sports like the NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, and MLS are typically salaried employees of their teams.
Here’s a snapshot of average salaries:
- NBA: $9.9 million (2023–24 season)
- MLB: $4.5 million
- NFL: $2.7 million (though heavily skewed by quarterback contracts)
- NHL: $3.5 million
- MLS: $550,000 (designated players excluded)
Salaries vary by position, tenure, and the league’s collective bargaining agreement. NBA contracts are fully guaranteed, while NFL contracts are often only partially guaranteed (a reason for constant renegotiations). Baseball offers some of the most player-friendly structures, especially for veteran players with arbitration rights.
It’s important to note: these salaries are pre-tax. U.S. athletes pay both federal and state taxes, and in some states like California or New York, that can eat up 40–50% of income. In Canada (for NHL players), tax rates are even higher. Athletes often “domicile” in low-tax states (like Florida or Texas) for this reason.
Still, salaries are steady and predictable compared to prize money, which is volatile and dependent on form and health. That’s why a player like Patrick Mahomes may take less upfront money in exchange for long-term guarantees—and why tennis pros sometimes burn out chasing travel-intensive tours with no guarantee of a payday.
4. Bonuses: When Postseason Success Pays Off
What many fans forget is that winning pays more. Almost every major professional sports league has built-in incentives for postseason performance.
- NFL: Each round of the playoffs carries a bonus—$45,500 for Wild Card winners, up to $164,000 for the Super Bowl winner (2024 figures). These bonuses are fixed by the CBA and apply regardless of a player’s salary.
- NBA: Playoff bonuses come from a $27 million pool. Players on the championship team may earn an extra $250,000–$300,000 depending on series length. For rookies or veterans on minimum deals, this can be a major income boost.
- MLB: Players split a postseason pool funded by a percentage of gate receipts. In 2023, each Texas Rangers player earned over $500,000 for their World Series run—on top of their regular season salaries.
- NHL: The Stanley Cup-winning team split about $3.75 million in bonuses among players.
- MLS: Bonuses are smaller but exist. Cup winners can receive low-six-figure payments depending on contract clauses.
While postseason bonuses are smaller than regular salaries for top stars, they often mean the world to role players and backups—players earning league minimums who double their salary just by making a deep playoff run.
In tennis, there’s no postseason—but the ATP and WTA offer year-end bonuses for players ranked in the Top 10, and the year-end championships (ATP Finals, WTA Finals) have massive purses—up to $4.8 million for an undefeated winner.
5. Guaranteed vs. Performance-Based Pay
Another layer to athlete compensation is how guaranteed it is.
- MLB and NBA: Fully guaranteed contracts. If you get injured, you still get paid.
- NFL: Performance bonuses and incentives dominate. A running back might earn a $500,000 bonus for hitting 1,000 rushing yards—a milestone that could vanish with one injury.
- Golf and Tennis: Nothing is guaranteed. You show up, play, and earn—or you don’t.
This can dramatically affect career planning and even mental health. NFL players chase bonuses that might depend on the number of snaps played, so missing a game could mean missing a mortgage payment. Meanwhile, a golfer who misses 10 straight cuts might earn nothing from the tour during that stretch.
6. What’s Left After Everyone Gets Paid?
By the time agents, managers, nutritionists, performance coaches, PR teams, lawyers, accountants, taxes, union dues, and league fees are paid, most athletes keep between 40–60% of their gross income.
It’s still a lot—but that number shrinks when you realize how short most careers are:
- Average NFL career: 3.3 years
- NBA: 4.5 years
- MLB: 5.6 years
- Tennis: 8–10 years (but only a few are profitable)
That’s why so many athletes push for endorsement deals (see our sponsorship blog), or turn to media, coaching, or business after retirement. Their earning window is short, and the fall-off can be steep.
Conclusion: The Myth of the Millionaire Athlete
Carlos Alcaraz didn’t “lose” half his French Open winnings—he followed the law and paid taxes like anyone else. But the viral reaction reflects how little people understand about athlete compensation.
Prize money, salaries, and bonuses are only one part of a complex financial picture. In most sports, success is volatile, taxes are high, and careers are short. For every $100 million LeBron James or Novak Djokovic, there are thousands of athletes grinding in minor leagues, training away from their families, and never breaking even.
So next time you see a giant check handed over at center court or a breaking story about an athlete’s contract, take a breath. Behind the numbers is a much more complicated reality—one where excellence, luck, risk, and sacrifice all get tallied in the final payout.
Let’s keep respecting the hustle, not just the highlight.