Anyone who can find a gig that pays well and only requires work a few months of the year – on the field with NFL players to boot – is pretty fortunate. NFL referees have some of the most enviable (or do they?) jobs in the world. They are required to learn strict guidelines and work completely without distraction at all times. They have to make decisions in a split second; and despite what fans might think, those decisions are most often correct. So, what does someone who gets to run around the field with the most famous faces in all of sports get paid?
NFL referees are not full-time employees. Most refs will work 20 days a year for about four hours a day. Aside from training courses and meetings, this is nothing short of a very, very part-time job. These men – along with the first women going through the training program – often have full-time jobs the rest of the year.
The average salary for an NFL referee is $149,000 per year. A first-time ref will make approximately $78,000 during their first season, making more as they become veterans. A ref with a 10-year history refereeing games is going to make more than $200,000 per year on the field.
The catch to being a referee is that they do not get paid any benefits. There are no vacation days, sick days or days off, and refs do not get health insurance or retirement benefits. They also spend as many as 40 hours per week learning new rules and regulations and reviewing plays from past games in the months and weeks leading up to the new football season. So essentially, it is a full-time job as the season draws near. However, many of the men and women on the field spend their time teaching university classes, arguing law in the courtroom and raising families.
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