Tennis is one of the highest-paying sports in the world. It has become a popular sport as well. Therefore, the tennis umpire salary is also higher than in any other sport. Do you know how much a tennis umpire gets paid?
Today, we will explain everything and show the correct answers. Before that, you need to know about the types of umpires, as there are different categories and badges available for tennis umpires. And their salary mostly depends on those things.
Tennis Umpire Salary
Umpire salary depends on various factors including their experience, working area, and others as well. Besides, there are several ways for umpires to get paid off. In general, they get match fees and other facilities as well.
There is a waging gap between men and women umpires. A male referee gets a pretty higher salary and match fees than a female. Sometimes the gap is double or more. Have a look at the below table. This is the updated umpire’s salary in tennis.
Typically new tennis umpire salary is $15000-$30000 in a calendar year. At the same time, a tennis chair umpire gets $72000-$84000 per annum. Indeed the chair umpire gets the highest payment. But there are more things to consider and look at.
Types of Tennis Umpires & Their Salaries
There are mainly three types of tennis umpires you will find in a tennis match. They are:
- Chair Umpire
- Line Umpire
- Chief of Umpires
Chair Umpire
If you look for the highest authority in a tennis match, you will get a person sitting in a tall chair and closely observing the game. He is the chair umpire. He has all the authority power of a match.
Chair umpires can overrule the on-field umpires and the line umpires as well. They decide every possible outcome or questionable decision. They have the power to penalize the players too.
However, a top-tier chair umpire gets up to $485000 in a year. But a top-tier female tennis umpire salary is $280000. This is the highest amount of salary a chair line umpire can get, according to Sportekz Reports.
Line Umpire
Line umpires assist the chair umpire to have fair points. They stand behind each baseline and pay attention to the ball. They call if the ball falls outside the baseline and ask for the point for the respective player.
In general, a line umpire can earn up to $30000 a year. But it could be lower than that. When an umpire starts his career, he might get $10000-$15000 in a year. It will increase with his experience and skills.
At the beginning of the line umpire career, he gets $70-$150 per day. It’s a minimum pay range for the line umpires.
Chief of Umpires
You don’t usually see them. Chief umpires hire the chair umpires and the line umpires. They work at a tournament base. So their earnings are not stable. But according to the BLEACHER Report, an MLB umpire can make around $235000 in a calendar year. But it depends on the club, tournaments, and other factors.
Badge Level for Umpires
Tennis umpires have three different badge levels. These badges help an umpire to get better compensation and payment. At the international level, every top-tier umpire must go through a baseline certification process. That process is undermined or observed by the tennis authority.
Three badge levels are:
- Bronze Badge
- Silver Badge
- Gold Badge
When an umpire passes the baseline certification, they get the bronze badge. There is no way to get a silver or gold badge directly bypassing the certification.
After getting the bronze badge, umpires need to show experience and get skills. When he gets skills and expertise, tennis authorities will give silver badge.
Finally, an umpire gets the gold badge if he gets proven skills and quality experience.
To get the gold badge, the umpire needs to have patience and desire. But it takes time.
ATP vs. WTA
The International Tennis Federation (ITF) creates two associations for male and female tennis players. ITF established these associations to end gender discrimination in tennis. They want justice.
ATP stands for Tennis Association for Men, whereas WTA stands for Women Tennis Association. Both are part of ITF.
However, ITF creates a huge wage gap between male and female tennis. It gives more salary and compensation to the male umpires and players, which is not fair in a sense.
Highest-Paid Tennis Chair Umpires
ITF has several umpire categories. One of them is ITF Gold Badge Chair Umpires. But here, you get only the most experienced and skilled umpires who got the tennis umpire as their career-long before. They all are very talented and creative. Therefore, they get the highest salary in the world, to be exact, in the tennis world.
Right now, Carlos Bernardes is in first place in this elite group. He gets £1500 as a match fee. And he gets £5000 as the Grand Slam Fees. He is a Brazilian.
However, there are approximately 15 elite umpires on the ITF elite lists. But you will find common gender discrimination here as well. The female umpires get half of the male’s math fees. For example, Mariana Alves is a female elite umpire. But she gets £750 per WTA match. And her Grand Slam Fees is £2325.
Grand Slam Match Fees
Grand Slam match fees are also decided upon the category of the umpires badge. Typically, a professional and experienced umpire gets 3000 GBP per match. It’s an expected range for the usual games. But the semi-final and final require much more payment.
Authority goes for high-quality and experienced umpires to conduct the semi-final and the final Grand Slam match. In that case, 5000 GBP is an ideal fee for the referees. But these fees are for the male umpires.
The scenario is entirely different for the female umpires. A female referee can make 1500 to 2500 GBP for the same activity. They get 1500 for a normal Grand Slam match. For the finals, they earn up to 2500 GBP.
ATP/WTA Match Fees
A professional and elite category umpire gets £1500 per ATP/WTA match. It’s for the male umpire only. Females earn half, which is £750 per match. But the final ATP/WTA match fees might be higher.
However, the ATP/WTA fees are less than the Grand Slam match fees.
Annual Salary of Tennis Umpires
The annual salary for the tennis umpires is not a fixed payment. It depends on the category and the umpire’s skills as well. And the general rules are also applicable here.
Chair umpires get around $72000-$84000 in a year. But they work around 100 days and earn that amount within a year. But elite category umpires get much more.
Moreover, the line umpires get $15000-$20000 in a year. It’s their annual income.
As we said before, the female umpires get half of the male’s salary. That means they can earn around $7500-$10000 annually.
How to Become A Tennis Chair Umpire?
Becoming a tennis chair umpire is no longer a difficult task for the line umpires. If you are a tennis player and would like to become a chair umpire, it won’t be a big issue.
First, you need to attend one or two years’ worth of clinics. You will do it under the Professional Tennis Umpires Association (PTUA). Then, you need to go through some certification processes. You will face challenges and require experience to pass these processes.
When you finally get the badges and certificate, you’re good to go. You can get a chair umpire position and earn a decent salary to make a happy life.
Do Umpires at Wimbledon Get Pay?
Umpires at Wimbledon don’t get paid for the activity. But they get their expenses paid. It’s an excellent way to start your career. The experience you get from these games will help you to become an international umpire indeed.
How Much Does A Top Tennis Umpire Earn?
A top tennis umpire earns around $15000-$30000 per annum. But if he is a chair umpire, he gets $72000-$84000 per annum. For the elite category umpire, it might cross $400000.
Final Thoughts
As the richest games, tennis umpires get a better match fee and earn a decent amount yearly. This write-up helps you to find the exact amount of the tennis umpire salary. We take every single digit from the authentic source and the official sites as well.
We give the latest chart on the umpire’s salary. It might help you to get things at a glance. If needed, give it a second read.
Suggested Article:
2 thoughts on “Updated Tennis Umpire Salary in 2022”