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The NBA is the highest-paying sports league in the world

Cork GainesMay 21, 2015, 02:30 IST

NBA players are the highest-paid athletes in the world with the average player making $4.6 million in the 2014-15 season, according to data provided by Sporting Intelligence.

Of course, the NBA has a huge advantage with its small rosters. Just 448 NBA players split $2.1 billion in collective salaries. Meanwhile, NFL players collectively made $3.6 billion in 2014. However, that was divided among 1,684 players for an average salary of just $2.1 million, fourth among the major North American sports leagues.

Here are the 17 highest-paying professional sports leagues based on average player salary with more than half (9) being soccer (association football) leagues.

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