According to Statista, 43% of US adults watched the NFL last year, compared with 29% who watched MLB. While the NFL averaged 18.7 million viewers last year, MLB averaged only 1.83 million. However, when it comes to the highest-paid athletes in the country, MLB holds the top two spots, with Juan Soto and Shohei Ohtani. But does that mean MLB is spending more money than the NFL?

Former MLB GM Jim Bowden doesn’t think so.

Currently, while names like Soto and Ohtani are securing contracts worth $765 million and $700 million, respectively, the average salary stands at around $5.34 million. While the disparity is evident across all other US sports leagues, according to Bowden, it is the highest in MLB.

“We have a problem, I think, in the industry, in my view, is that the top 10% of the players are making 60% of the money. That is just an absurd number,” Jim Bowden said, as per Foul Territory. “Like in the NFL, it’s 51%, but in the NFL they have a quarterback that’s the most important position in sports, and those guys are all making $50 to $60 million a year.

“But you look at the other sports: NBA, it’s 41%, NHL, it’s 31%. In baseball, in the present system, 10% of the players are getting 60% of the pool. And we have a system right now that doesn’t help the non-arbitration-eligible players. A lot of them don’t make enough money for what they bring to the table. And the people in the middle aren’t getting enough either.”

For reference, Ohtani’s individual off-field income ($125 million) surpasses the combined endorsement earnings of the rest of the top ten players.

Names like Kyle Tucker are signed for a $60 million AAV. On the other hand, the Cleveland Guardians’ 2026 payroll stands at around $76 million. It may not be much different in the NFL, where the quarterbacks accumulate the major chunk.

However, quarterbacks get the most money because they have the highest Wins Above Replacement of any position. Moreover, elite signal-callers are extremely rare, creating a severe supply-and-demand imbalance.

Roster size could be another reason.

While MLB permits teams to have 26 players on their roster, NFL teams can have 53. Thus, the average salary is better distributed in the NFL than in MLB.

The problem doesn’t stop here, though.

Non-arbitration players and rookies are among the most undervalued in the league.

An arbitration-eligible player’s projected salary through the system may climb higher than what a team is willing to pay. In such cases, teams may simply non-tender the player rather than pay open-market rates, forcing them into a compressed late-offseason market. Furthermore, players in their first three years of service cannot negotiate with other teams and are tied to a team-dictated minimum salary scale.

Bowden has the solution.

However, despite his saying, “Because of my background, most people think I lean toward the owners’ side in negotiations like this, but that’s not the case. In actuality, I’m not biased,” MLBPA may not agree with what Bowden suggests.

Jim Bowden suggests a salary cap and floor for MLB

“Even with eight teams needing to reduce their payrolls, more money would be spent on major-league players under this system on the whole because the 12 smaller-payroll teams would need to spend a total of $621 million to reach the floor, while the eight larger-payroll teams would need to reduce their spending by $577 million,” Bowden suggested.

Under a floor and cap system, MLB suggested a salary floor of $171.2 million and a salary cap of $245.3 million.

With that, teams like the Dodgers, Yankees, Mets, Blue Jays, Phillies, Red Sox, Padres, and Braves need to reduce their payrolls. Thus, it will lower the gap with the small-market teams.

On the other hand, small-market teams like the Marlins, Guardians, Rays, White Sox, Cardinals, Nationals, Pirates, Twins, Brewers, Athletics, Rockies, and Reds need to increase their salary floor to match the big-market teams.

According to Bowden, this could help bring more parity to MLB’s salary structure. But now, it remains to be seen whether the MLBPA agrees to the proposal by the end of this year.