Toronto and Seattle are among the top three global sports teams with the biggest pay increase year-on-year in percentage terms, according to a new Nick Harris global salary survey released on Monday by ESPN The Magazine.
Toronto had the biggest jump of all sports teams with a 256-percent increase in average salary to $600,000 per player, which was largely due to the signing of three marquee names: England international star Jermain Defoe, midfielder Michael Bradley and Brazil goalkeeper Julio Cesar.
Manchester City retains its place as the world’s best-paid team by average first-team player, at $8.1 million per man. But Real Madrid and Barcelona, who employ Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, respectively, have both fallen one place each as two Major League Baseball teams now claim the No. 2 and No. 3 spots.
The best paying soccer league, the EPL, has an average salary of $3,468,364.