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College Umpiring Salary


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I've been wondering about this for a long time and I figure what better place to find out than this site?

 

Can solely working college baseball (including summer and fall leagues in addition to perhaps some of your higher level summer tournaments) earn you a decent salary each year?

 

I don't really know anyone who does nor would I even know where to start as far as estimating how much an umpire makes outside of the college regular season (I know NCAA series and individual game rates, but not summer or fall or whatever the higher end tournaments pay).

 

I'm sure some people do make their living from working mid-February til the end of October (in most places) or even year round.  I'm also sure many guys can work a schedule like that throughout the year while assigning games for a decent fee.  I don't know if it's something you can do without being married and being able to have a second income.

 

I'm not trying to pry into anyone's personal finances on here, just curious if anyone knows or has a general idea how much someone can earn every year working a schedule like that with or without assigning fees. 30k, 40k, etc?

 

 

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Unless you are doing one of the premier conferences (ACC, SEC, BIGXII, PAC10...) every day a game is available it would say extremely unlikely, even if you were able to work one of those every day available highly unlikely.

If you want to quit your day job and be an NCAA official basketball is the way to go. Cha-Ching.

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Not in Ohio.  A guy could probably make a living doing it in Florida, South Texas, Arizona, So. California.

 

I think there are too many uncertainties involved.  Rain, cancellations, injury, etc.  You could start off looking at a pretty good chunk of money and end up with about 1/2 of what you thought you were going to get.

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I checked. Not enought to quit my job. That's why I choose not to pursue NCAA assignments. My job renders my availability nil.

 

agreed..........i have known guys to try and make a living out of officiating, but in my area baseball alone would starve you...... any career for officiating only would need to be augmented by some retirement salary with a heavy basketball laden schedule.......too many rainouts in baseball........ 

 

I beleive we have a few guys here who augment retirement salaries fairly nicely......MajorDave????....and SemperFi...........

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I checked. Not enought to quit my job. That's why I choose not to pursue NCAA assignments. My job renders my availability nil.

 

agreed..........i have known guys to try and make a living out of officiating, but in my area baseball alone would starve you...... any career for officiating only would need to be augments by some retirement salary with a heavy basketball laden schedule.......too many rainouts in baseball........ 

 

I beleive we have a few guys here who augment retirement salaries fairly nicely......MajorDave????

It augments my Military Retirement.

But....I have to work my butt off.

275-300 games a year.

Little League, USSSA, American Legion, College Summer Ball, Adult Rec

During the non season I can usually count on work over the weekends.

During the season, it is non-stop.

Last day or night I had off was 12 days ago on March 15th.

Next day off is Easter Sunday and only because no one is playing.

I know and have worked with a MiLB Umpire.

He is working the Independent League this year.  He can not survive on that alone.

 

I don't even know if you can make 30-40K a year as a top AAA Umpire.

 

Don't quit your day job.

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You'd have to pair college baseball with basketball and a part-time job (like a substitute teacher) to get by.  And you'd just be getting by.  Maybe marrying a surgeon would help =)

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Plus, unless you have fringe benefits from marriage/retirement/etc, you have no insurance or retirement.

Wait...... I forgot Obama-Care :shakehead:

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I know 2 Top College umpires down here.. who make 40K a year... just working DI baseball.



Not in Ohio.  A guy could probably make a living doing it in Florida, South Texas, Arizona, So. California.

 

I think there are too many uncertainties involved.  Rain, cancellations, injury, etc.  You could start off looking at a pretty good chunk of money and end up with about 1/2 of what you thought you were going to get.

Dont forget Mississippi, Louisiana and Alabama..they have some really, really good paying schools.

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I'm with MidAmUmp here. Highly unlikely anywhere but the "sun belt" of the US. When I got let go from my last job in CA before moving north (thanks to my wife's company) I was able to supplement her income by working just about every day. It's tough working every day. I tried to do it when I was younger and it got to me so badly that I had to take two years off before I realized I missed it enough to return.

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On 3/27/2013 at 8:45 AM, Umpire in Chief said:

Unless you are doing one of the premier conferences (ACC, SEC, BIGXII, PAC10...) every day a game is available it would say extremely unlikely, even if you were able to work one of those every day available highly unlikely.

If you want to quit your day job and be an NCAA official basketball is the way to go. Cha-Ching.

+1

Here is what I have found rummaging around on the net. Is it as perfectly accurate as T-Rav's buddy, if he can find out, and if his buddy will tell him? I would say no, but here it is.

D1 major "premier" conferences are paying 500-600 per "conference" game. Over and above the game fee are expenses for the plane flight (or car mileage) and lodging which are added into the check. For a "non-conference" game the fee is 400-500 and no expenses are paid. For most of the non-conference, I would imagine the umpire will be close enough that they can drive. I would also imagine the most someone should drive on game day is about 200 miles before a flight should be taken, although I have not seen what the cutoff mileage for driving and flying is. Too many hours in a car before a game to be worked would not be good IMHO.

There are 15 weeks of games with 3 being played on Fri, Sat, Sun, against Conference opponents and the ones midweek are usually non-conference.

So, if you were to do weekends and then Tuesday Wednesday with Monday and Thursday off, you could make about 3000 per week (5 games) for a grand total of 45,000 for the 15 weeks. If you are picked for the Regionals, you get an extra 1,800, Super Regionals, 1,100, and CWS 4,100. CWS guys work the Regionals first so you can make about 6,000 in playoff money, for a total of about 50k.

Remember, you have to have a totally flexible schedule and the time off from anything else to do this, which is what it sounds like you were asking.

Many umpires work several conferences. If all the conferences worked are not premier conferences, then the money will vary.

Some conferences now work a 4 man for Conference games. That means if an umpire becomes incapacitated during the game, there are still 3 left to work the game and provide better coverage on the field than a 3 man crew and someone is incapacitated and it becomes a 2 man with less coverage.

Now, for other game levels. There are several out there who work 200-300 games a year. Obviously if they work every game for at least $50, that is a total of an extra 10 to 15k. Obviously the number of games one can work and pay levels differ all over.

Just remember, if time off is no object, the better the umpire becomes, the better the opportunities available. If you become top notch, just like in the real world, the money will follow. Also, you cannot have an injury that would knock you out of umpiring. You never know.

Unfortunately, baseball is considered a "non-revenue" sport, and therefor does not command the same amount of $$ that UIC alludes to in D1 basketball.

Here is an article from last year about the top guys getting 3,000 per game (they must pay expenses out of this). One thing they don't tell you, is that you get flight pay from your home and back for every game. Many guys do not go home after the game just to turn around and fly for a game the very next night. They spend the night in a town and then just drive to their next assignment pocketing a substantial amount of flight money, both the guys making the top 3000 mentioned that have to pay their expenses, and the ones who get the flight pay as an extra to their lesser game fee. They work their game schedule to make this happen and work for several conferences. Nothing is illegal about this, it puts more in their pocket (and of course they have to pay more taxes) and can be very substantial for the guys who work 75-105 games per year. And most of these guys are making, 75k plus, from their regular full time jobs.

 

http://blog.syracuse.com/orangebasketball/2012/02/have_whistle_will_travel_are_c.html

 

added 4/19--and here is a guy who admits to making several (2-3) million from NCAA hoops while working for a utility company. Obviously NCAA hoops is the only way to go when money is factored into the equation. Good as it gets for professional officiating of amateur players. No need to try for NBA or MLB with great full time job and officiating job that pays 200-300k

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I've been wondering about this for a long time and I figure what better place to find out than this site?

 

Can solely working college baseball (including summer and fall leagues in addition to perhaps some of your higher level summer tournaments) earn you a decent salary each year?

 

I don't really know anyone who does nor would I even know where to start as far as estimating how much an umpire makes outside of the college regular season (I know NCAA series and individual game rates, but not summer or fall or whatever the higher end tournaments pay).

 

I'm sure some people do make their living from working mid-February til the end of October (in most places) or even year round.  I'm also sure many guys can work a schedule like that throughout the year while assigning games for a decent fee.  I don't know if it's something you can do without being married and being able to have a second income.

 

I'm not trying to pry into anyone's personal finances on here, just curious if anyone knows or has a general idea how much someone can earn every year working a schedule like that with or without assigning fees. 30k, 40k, etc?

 

One of the assigners here is a full-time official, doing D2 and D3 with some D1 (Big 10) assignments. But he also assigns a LOT of games in school and summer and does varsity HS basketball, among other business pursuits. So it could be a piece of the puzzle, but likely not the entire puzzle.

 

And I must say that I find your choice of avatar icons proving you to be a man of high intelligence and refined taste.

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Unless you are doing one of the premier conferences (ACC, SEC, BIGXII, PAC10...) every day a game is available it would say extremely unlikely, even if you were able to work one of those every day available highly unlikely.

If you want to quit your day job and be an NCAA official basketball is the way to go. Cha-Ching.

+1

Here is what I have found rummaging around on the net. Is it as perfectly accurate as T-Rav's buddy, if he can find out, and if his buddy will tell him? I would say no, but here it is.

D1 major "premier" conferences are paying 500-600 per "conference" game. Over and above the game fee are expenses for the plane flight (or car mileage) and lodging which are added into the check. For a "non-conference" game the fee is 400-500 and no expenses are paid. For most of the non-conference, I would imagine the umpire will be close enough that they can drive. I would also imagine the most someone should drive on game day is about 200 miles before a flight should be taken, although I have not seen what the cutoff mileage for driving and flying is. Too many hours in a car before a game to be worked would not be good IMHO.

There are 15 weeks of games with 3 being played on Fri, Sat, Sun, against Conference opponents and the ones midweek are usually non-conference.

So, if you were to do weekends and then Tuesday Wednesday with Monday and Thursday off, you could make about 3000 per week (5 games) for a grand total of 45,000 for the 15 weeks. If you are picked for the Regionals, you get an extra 1,800, Super Regionals, 1,100, and CWS 4,100. CWS guys work the Regionals first so you can make about 6,000 in playoff money, for a total of about 50k.

 

I guess my information is incorrect as far as game fees are concerned.  I thought big-time college series were around $900-$1000 per series.

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I've been wondering about this for a long time and I figure what better place to find out than this site?

 

Can solely working college baseball (including summer and fall leagues in addition to perhaps some of your higher level summer tournaments) earn you a decent salary each year?

 

I don't really know anyone who does nor would I even know where to start as far as estimating how much an umpire makes outside of the college regular season (I know NCAA series and individual game rates, but not summer or fall or whatever the higher end tournaments pay).

 

I'm sure some people do make their living from working mid-February til the end of October (in most places) or even year round.  I'm also sure many guys can work a schedule like that throughout the year while assigning games for a decent fee.  I don't know if it's something you can do without being married and being able to have a second income.

 

I'm not trying to pry into anyone's personal finances on here, just curious if anyone knows or has a general idea how much someone can earn every year working a schedule like that with or without assigning fees. 30k, 40k, etc?

 

One of the assigners here is a full-time official, doing D2 and D3 with some D1 (Big 10) assignments. But he also assigns a LOT of games in school and summer and does varsity HS basketball, among other business pursuits. So it could be a piece of the puzzle, but likely not the entire puzzle.

 

And I must say that I find your choice of avatar icons proving you to be a man of high intelligence and refined taste.

Scrounge, we're in the same association.  Actually, I think I know who you are talking about and if it is the guy who I am thinking of he's someone who has offered to help me out to see if this is something I'd want to pursue.  I'm going to PM you.

 

And as far as I am concerned, I don't have any other avatar options.   :wink:

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Unless you are doing one of the premier conferences (ACC, SEC, BIGXII, PAC10...) every day a game is available it would say extremely unlikely, even if you were able to work one of those every day available highly unlikely.

If you want to quit your day job and be an NCAA official basketball is the way to go. Cha-Ching.

+1

Here is what I have found rummaging around on the net. Is it as perfectly accurate as T-Rav's buddy, if he can find out, and if his buddy will tell him? I would say no, but here it is.

D1 major "premier" conferences are paying 500-600 per "conference" game. Over and above the game fee are expenses for the plane flight (or car mileage) and lodging which are added into the check. For a "non-conference" game the fee is 400-500 and no expenses are paid. For most of the non-conference, I would imagine the umpire will be close enough that they can drive. I would also imagine the most someone should drive on game day is about 200 miles before a flight should be taken, although I have not seen what the cutoff mileage for driving and flying is. Too many hours in a car before a game to be worked would not be good IMHO.

There are 15 weeks of games with 3 being played on Fri, Sat, Sun, against Conference opponents and the ones midweek are usually non-conference.

So, if you were to do weekends and then Tuesday Wednesday with Monday and Thursday off, you could make about 3000 per week (5 games) for a grand total of 45,000 for the 15 weeks. If you are picked for the Regionals, you get an extra 1,800, Super Regionals, 1,100, and CWS 4,100. CWS guys work the Regionals first so you can make about 6,000 in playoff money, for a total of about 50k.

 

I guess my information is incorrect as far as game fees are concerned.  I thought big-time college series were around $900-$1000 per series.

I had heard 2100 for the 3 game series all inclusive. Most flights I checked were 300 and 2 nights hotel at $200. So game fee was 500-600 after the expenses. Expenses may vary due to location, and therefor drop the game fee down lower. Rates could still be different depending on the Conference.

 

Of course I heard the good ole Big Ten was the highest paying for hoops, but that doesn't mean it pays the most for baseball.

 

Would be glad to hear exact details for any and all conferences.

 

Still best to have a regular job and let the advocation fall in if possible. Kind of like a important hobby but you get paid for it, rather than only sinking money into it.

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https://cbua.arbitersports.com/front/103681/Site/Information/Compensation-Structure

 

This is what I found as far as the fees are concerned.

 

I here you guys about having a regular job and then doing this.  Sounds easier than it actually is though, especially since I have no idea what kind of employment I'd like to get into that would be conducive to actually having the time to umpire.

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There are a couple of other considerations to your question as well. Keep in mind that as an independent contractor, you will be paying BOTH sides of Social Security and Medicare. And it's not just health insurance you'll need - if this is your main or even a large source of income, I'd highly recommend disability insurance. Health insurance will pay for the twisted knee, it won't pay for the 9 months of game fees you'll miss while recovering. And disability insurance isn't cheap on an individual policy, ESPECIALLY for an occupation that is primarily physical nature. Mine is a few hundred dollars a year, and I'm just a desk-bound financial analyst. My wife is a nurse and hers is easily double. A quality company like Northwestern Mutual may write you a policy, but it'll cost you. And even then, they generally pay a portion (e.g., 60% or so) of your income, not full replacement. There are other game-fee insurance programs out there, but check VERY closely what their annual limit is.

 

Again, not trying to dissuade you. But just trying to lay it all out. It'll come in time. There will be ebbs and flows in how much time you have, but the umpiring will be there. Also, check out the Introductions thread - there's a guy who went to pro school, umpired a ton, got burned out, and left for years. Sometimes trying to get too much early on isn't the best for reasons other than financial. If you make it your job...well, then it's your job.

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https://cbua.arbitersports.com/front/103681/Site/Information/Compensation-Structure

 

This is what I found as far as the fees are concerned.

 

I here you guys about having a regular job and then doing this.  Sounds easier than it actually is though, especially since I have no idea what kind of employment I'd like to get into that would be conducive to actually having the time to umpire.

Thanks for the info-first time I have seen something like this. Of course that is 2011 and it is 2013 now. Even the money for the playoffs has gone up a couple hundred dollars in the last 2 years.

 

Now, if you can get the ACC and SEC that UIC mentioned in his post, and the West Coast Conferences (and others not mentioned), we might have something here and find out who is premier (whatever that means, ($$$$????, or the playing ability,???) and not premier. This is why it is sometimes hard to get the info when one gets into comparison's. There is always going to be some higher and some lower but they don't want to show it in print. The D1 guys know exactly which conferences pay the most and which the least as they cross over several conferences and hear all that stuff.

 

Most of the guys who do this are highly talented enough to figure out how to fit umpiring into their schedule around their "real" jobs, whether they planned it that way or not. They are needed badly enough at their real job (and this is the key to any profession) that their employer will gladly work something out with their schedule, or just like in real life, they have their own companies and can take the time needed. Many are in sales where they can maneuver their jobs around as long as they get the job done, some are teachers that can leave school early if the game is local, or take a Friday off now and then to fly when not local. Some have their own insurance agencies, that they build up right after school and then get into umpiring, or there could be other occupations that allow the time, if you are highly talented and needed and the employer agrees to work something out. They have figured it out and so can you being from that highly regarded institution that is your avatar.

 

Once again, due to the injury component, get a regular job first, and then see if you can umpire. This is an advocation and not a vocation and too risky to be considered a regular job. Umpiring cannot be the sole focus in life and some have probably had to give it up for their "real" job, especially when it is a very good job, but it just doesn't allow the time needed for umpiring or officiating in general. You do what you gotta do. Maybe they can just go a watch a game every now and then, and that will just have to suffice.

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https://cbua.arbitersports.com/front/103681/Site/Information/Compensation-Structure

 

This is what I found as far as the fees are concerned.

 

I here you guys about having a regular job and then doing this.  Sounds easier than it actually is though, especially since I have no idea what kind of employment I'd like to get into that would be conducive to actually having the time to umpire.

Your not the first to wonder about this aspect.  Look at it this way.  There are probably dozens (at least) of umpires in your area who have the same passion for it that you do.  How many of them do it as there full time job?  Probably about none.  That should tell you something.

 

Now, if you have a spouse / partner with a good job and benefits etc. maybe you can make it work. 

 

Until then just consider it a hobby that pays you money instead of a hobby where you pay out money (ex. golf).

 

that will keep it in the right prospective in your mind and keep you happier and probably end up making you a better umpire.

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I know 2 Top College umpires down here.. who make 40K a year... just working DI baseball.

Like I said. Not nearly enough to quit my real job. Yeh, they only work a few months, but I have bills for all 12. Plus, I don't like ramen noodles.

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