CCollegeMatcher

Athletes and Sports Competitors

US occupation · SOC 27-2021

Job titles people report: Baseball Pitcher, Baseball Player, Basketball Player, Golf Professional, Hockey Player, Major League Baseball Player, Minor League Baseball Player, Professional Athlete, Professional Golf Tournament Player, Race Car Driver

Pay and outlook

Median annual wage, May 2025
$66,710
Half earn more, half earn less
Middle half earn
$36,790 – $109,880
25th to 75th percentile
People employed, May 2025
15,070
Wage and salary jobs (OEWS)
Projected change, 2025–35
+5.5%
At or above the all-jobs rate (3.5% to under 7%)
Openings a year (projected)
2,200
New jobs plus replacing people who leave
Typical education to enter
No formal educational credential
BLS
  • All figures are for the United States as a whole. Pay varies a lot by state and city.
  • Wages are for everyone working in the occupation in May 2025, at every career stage. They are not starting salaries or figures for new graduates.
  • Growth and openings are BLS projections for 2025–35. They are estimates, not promises. Openings include jobs that open up when people retire or change occupation, not just new jobs.

What the work involves

Compete in athletic events.

Main tasks

  • Assess performance following athletic competition, identifying strengths and weaknesses and making adjustments to improve future performance.
  • Maintain equipment used in a particular sport.
  • Attend scheduled practice or training sessions.
  • Maintain optimum physical fitness levels by training regularly, following nutrition plans, or consulting with health professionals.
  • Participate in athletic events or competitive sports, according to established rules and regulations.
  • Exercise or practice under the direction of athletic trainers or professional coaches to develop skills, improve physical condition, or prepare for competitions.
  • Receive instructions from coaches or other sports staff prior to events and discuss performance afterwards.
  • Represent teams or professional sports clubs, performing such activities as meeting with members of the media, making speeches, or participating in charity events.

Description and tasks from the O*NET® 31.0 Database.

Getting in

Typical education to enter (BLS)
No formal educational credential
Training once hired: long-term on-the-job training
O*NET Job Zone 1–2
Little to some preparation
Usually requires a high school diploma or GED, though some occupations may not.

Interests it suits

The strongest of the six O*NET interest types for this occupation, highest first. The short glosses are ours.

  • Realistic: hands-on work with tools, machines, plants or animals
  • Enterprising: leading, persuading and making business decisions
  • Social: helping, teaching and caring for people

Fields of study that lead here

From the federal CIP–SOC crosswalk, which links 1 programme to this occupation. A link means the programme prepares people for this kind of work. It doesn't mean the programme is required, or that it's the only route.

Kinesiology & Sports Science

  • Sports, Kinesiology, and Physical Education/Fitness, General

Find colleges that fit you with our matcher: choose Kinesiology & Sports Science at the Major step.

Where many students take kinesiology & sports science

Ordered by the field's share of degrees awarded times undergraduate enrolment (College Scorecard), among colleges with at least 1,000 undergraduates. Online universities are included. It's a rough measure of how big the programme is. It says nothing about quality. The share counts every programme in the field, not only the ones linked to this career.

Related careers

Related occupations from the O*NET database, in its order.

← All careers

Sources

This page includes information from the O*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. CollegeMatcher has modified all or some of this information. USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications. O*NET 31.0 Database · CC BY 4.0

Changes: we show the core tasks in the O*NET database with the highest importance ratings (up to eight, in that order), the top three O*NET interest types by score, and shortened Job Zone names. Titles, descriptions and task text are unchanged.

Wages: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025. Projections, typical entry education and training: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections 2025–35. Fields of study: NCES and BLS CIP 2020–SOC 2018 Crosswalk. All public domain. OEWS · Employment Projections · CIP–SOC crosswalk