According to the Daily Mail, Frank Lampard is looking at renting a 9,000 square foot New York City apartment that will cost $95,000 per month in rent.
That part of the story isn’t shocking. Frank Lampard is a world class, internationally recognized soccer player, he is making millions playing for NYCFC and housing in Manhattan is expensive. It’s not the average Manhattan apartment, so $95,000 a month isn’t nearly the average rent for Manhattan. Even so, the cost of living is still pretty high.
The shocking part is that Lampard’s potential home will cost more in rent per month than SEVEN of his NYCFC teammates will make this year. This is the latest information from the MLS Player’s Union from September 2014. This is from last season so new players from other leagues aren’t on this list and in between then and now, we have had a new CBA so player’s salaries on the lower end of the scale will go up, but here is the current list of players who make less than $95k per year.
Kwame Watson-Siriboe-$56,666.67 (1 start and 2 appearances)
Tommy McNamara-$60,000 (0 appearances)
Ryan Meara-$69,500 (0 appearances-on loan from New York Red Bulls)
Mehdi Ballouchy-$65,000 (2 starts and 2 appearances)
Matt Dunn-$48,500.04 (0 appearances)
Sebastian Velasquez-$48,825 (2 starts and 3 appearances)
Tony Taylor-$79,371 (0 appearances)
Here are a couple things to consider. One, with the new CBA, the minimum salary a player can earn per year has gone up from $36,500 to $60,000 so some of those salaries above will be higher and may possibly exceed $95,000. The other, a $60,000 salary in New York City is WAY DIFFERENT than a $60,000 salary in Salt lake City. Take Sebastian Velasquez for example. He probably lived like a king in Salt Lake City, even with his $49,000 salary. Now at, let’s assume $60,000, Velasquez likely isn’t struggling to get by, but he is probably rooming with a couple other people, living in an apartment with a bedroom that’s probably the size of one of Lampard’s closets and is holding himself to a rather tighter budget than many other professional athletes in New York City.
Now there is a reason why guys like Frank Lampard and David Villa are making over 100 times the amount these players are making. Lampard is being marketed by MLS to the world and the United States so his value as a player is going to be higher than some of his teammates. Casual fans are going to be coming specifically to see Frank Lampard and not Mehdi Ballouchy so obviously, Lampard will be making more money as he is more important to NYCFC’s strategy in selling out Yankee Stadium. I just have to imagine that some players will see Lampard on the same field and in the same jersey and not have any negative feelings toward the vast pay scale difference.
