How much do NBA Referees earn per game and per season?
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Being an NBA referee is one of the toughest jobs in the league. Most of the time, you’re going to be considered public enemy number 1 as fan bases on both sides believe officials have it out for their squad. The second a game finishes up, fans on social media immediately cast blame upon the officiating rather than certain blunders players may have made throughout 48 minutes of play.
There have been several moments throughout NBA history that a wrong call has been made but for the most part, trained refs tend to make the right call. The league implementing a coaches challenge was one of the steps taken to hold officials accountable for the former.
With such a challenging job, NBA referees need to be compensated accordingly. So let’s take a look at how much they make in a season.
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How much do NBA Referees earn in a single season?
Officials in the NBA earn according to a variety of factors. The two most important ones are experience and the type of game they are officiating for the night.
When it comes to entry-level referees, they would go on to earn around $600 per game. This would come up to about $250,000 a year
NBA referees who have been officiating for a long time and hold a position of seniority earn about $3,500 per game which would come to around $550,000 as annual income.
Some of the highest paid refs in the NBA today earn close to $550,000 or even more so. Scott Foster, Marc Davis, Sean Corbin are all refs who have officiated well over 20 seasons in the league, leading to them getting a $550,000+ paycheck at the end of each regular season.
Do NBA referees make money during the Playoffs?
Yes, NBA referees have a chance to earn more money for each Playoff game they officiate. If they are chosen to ref in the postseason, they are likely to warn an additional $800 to $5,000 per game.
If they are reffing the NBA Finals, they most certainly would be in the higher part of the range shown above.
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