KEY POINTS:
New Zealand's top rugby stars are the poor relations of professional sport - earning barely 10 per cent of what other athletes take home.
Figures obtained by the Herald on Sunday show the average salary of a Super 14 player in New Zealand is $200,000 - dwarfed by the average salary of $1.5 million a professional footballer in England is paid.
The gulf between our top All Blacks and American sports stars is even bigger, with the average salary of a professional basketball player in the US a colossal NZ$6.5 million.
There are huge amounts up for grabs in other sports as well, baseball players can earn an average of NZ$3.4m a year, American footballers $1.77m and ice hockey $1.9m.. But there is better news for our rugby players when their salaries are compared with those paid to their compatriots around the world.
According to the Australian Rugby Union Players Association, the average wage of a Super 14 player across the ditch last year was AUS$202,000 ($231,000).
In France the average salary paid to professional players is 12,000 Euros a month which equates to $266,000 a year, while in England, the average salary paid to those in the Guinness Premiership is £70,000 ($170,000).
All Black coach Graham Henry is on a basic salary of about $350,000 but his role will be incentivised. Henry is likely to receive lump-sum payments if the All Blacks win the Tri Nations and if they win all three Philips Tests so his total package could be between $500,000 to about $550,000 a year.
