Our association has been conducting surveys on annual salaries since 1980 (estimated annual salaries were used from 1980 to 1987). We would like to report that the results of this survey have been compiled and statistics released for fiscal year 2025.
According to this year's survey results, the average annual salary of the 725 players under contract with the association was 49.05 million yen, up 4.1% (1.92 million yen) from last year. The total annual salary of all players under contract with the association was 35.55 billion yen, surpassing last year's total of 33.74 billion yen (716 players) and setting a new record. By league, the average salary of players under contract with the association was 51.28 million yen (359 players) in the Central League, up 4.2% (2.05 million yen) from last year, and 46.85 million yen (366 players) in the Pacific League, up 4.2% (1.87 million yen) from last year. The highest average salary for players under contract with the association by team was the Giants at 78 million yen.
The overall median (363rd out of 725 people) was 19 million yen (over 8 out of 12 teams), and the median by league was 20 million yen for the Central League and 19 million yen for the Pacific League.
In recent years, our association has been working to address the issues of disparities between teams in terms of annual salaries and image rights income, as well as improving labor cost ratios (the ratio of total player salaries to team revenues).
Last year, the difference between the 1st and 12th place teams in average annual salary was 33.23 million yen, but this year the gap between the 1st place Giants and the 12th place Seibu Lions has widened to 40.56 million yen. In terms of median salary, the difference between the 1st place Giants and the 12th place Seibu Lions has also reached a record high of 14 million yen.
We intend to continue supporting the growth of our teams and negotiating with the players' associations of each team to clarify evaluations so that players can enter into contracts that they are satisfied with.
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