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FC Barcelona is reportedly offering star Lionel Messi a record $100 million to sign a contract extension with the club, worth $650,000/week; as his current deal expires with the end of this season. Barcelona, having already lost Neymar to Paris Saint-Germain (following a record $263 million transfer) this year, could not afford to lose Messi too. Rumors had been circling that the Argentinian star was interested in leaving the club to play for Manchester City. Messi has yet to formally accept the extension, but Barcelona captain Andres Iniesta has indicated he will.
Howie Long-Short: FC Barcelona spends 84% of total revenues on player salaries. That is an astoundingly high figure. NBA, NHL and MLB players are guaranteed roughly 50% of total revenues and NFL players take home slightly less than that. The NFL generated $13 billion in revenue in 2016. A 35% difference would mean that NFL owners are splitting $4.55 billion, that is earmarked for players in Europe. I’m sure American athletes will love reading that.
Fan Marino: To put $100 million into perspective, only 26 players in NFL history have made that much in total on-field earnings. For Messi, that is just the signing bonus. Peyton Manning made more money than any other NFL player in history ($248.7 million) and his brother Eli Manning ($219.3 million) is the only other NFL player to have made $200 million in on-field earnings.
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