Seth Davis article profiling John Higgins

[chapmaja]

Originally Posted by zm1283

The Missouri Valley is probably the "smallest" conference he works and last I saw a few years ago their top-tier guys (Like Higgins) were getting around $2K/game.

I could be wrong but I think most D1 fees now are flat fees that include money for travel/hotels/per diem/etc., so expenses are coming out of that $3K most of the time. By the time you take expenses out and self-employment taxes, he isn't clearing $3K a night. Still a profitable endeavor though.

Yeah, he's still making a nice chunk. I am just working on my taxes now and I brought in well over 10K, but that was nearly cut in half by allowable deductions. If the NCAA guys are getting paid an average of 2500 per night, but that includes their travel, lodging, food, ect, then they are losing the ability to deduct those items from their income, thus they are paying SE tax on the vast majority of what they are making. At $2500 per game, the government is getting over $350 per game in SE tax. Add in the income tax the government also charges and that $2500 is much closer to $1500 per game. They lose a lot of money to taxes, but still are making a TON of money for those seasons they work.

Sometimes I wonder if the per diem the officials get is really worth it, or if they would be better off getting paid more and covering your own expenses.