No. Even though the NFL is the most profitable, football is the worst of the big 3: The players don't have guaranteed contracts (or some do, if the individual negotiates one); top salaries are much lower than in the MLB and NBA but stratification is just as high; their retirements are paltry compared to the other leagues; careers are shorter because of injuries but there's no compensation scale in place for that; lots of retired players complain about the health care.
> In strictly capitalist terms, I suspect the super-rich players are also the
> most exploited (produce most surplus value). Without those 'stars' tv
> receipts might be much less.
Yup. LeBron James and Dwayne Wade only make about $15 million a year but undoubtedly produce more s.v. for the league and owners and television networks than, say, Vince Carter, who makes $20 million and produce way more than 15 times the amount of a $1 million dollar bench player. Poor Shaq O'Neal only makes $1.5 million this year after making $25 million last year.