NFL Referee: Should It Be A Full-Time Position?

Most of the authorities responsible for maintaining order like the referee in professional sports are full-time workers who earn a very sizable income for a position that comes with a lot of pressure.

For instance, NBA officials may earn up to $550,000 a season (their NHL equivalents have the potential to make over $400,000 a year), while MLB umpires often make approximately $300,000.

Conversely, NFL officials “only” make about $200,000.

NFL Referee: Should It Be A Full-Time Position?

Unfortunately, the NFL has not officially updated referee pay in recent years, although there is plenty of information available on a previous CBA. The arrangement lasted for eight seasons, from 2012 to 2019.

The annual salary of an NFL official in 2019 was $205,000.

Referees get retirement perks from the league. They made a $23,000 yearly payment per official in addition to a partial 401(k) match in 2019.

The NFL does have the option to hire “a number” of referees to work year-round, but they are part-time employees. Additional officials may be hired by the league for the purpose of growth and training.

A new seven-year CBA between the NFL and the NFL Referees Association was reached in 2019. It is set  to expire on May 31, 2026

The NFL referees’ full-time employment list, which was just made public, has generated discussion among football fans.

The following is a list of NFL officials’ off-field positions:

  • Brad Allen — non-profit CEO
  • Tra Blake — software quality assurance manager
  • Clete Blakeman — attorney
  • Carl Cheffers — sales manager
  • Land Clark — chief building official
  • Alan Eck — tax manager
  • Adrian Hill — aerospace software engineer
  • Shawn Hochuli — financial advisor
  • John Hussey — sales representative
  • Alex Kemp — insurance agent
  • Clay Martin — high-school administrator/basketball coach
  • Scott Novak — sales manager
  • Brad Rodgers — college professor
  • Shawn Smith — finance
  • Ron Torbert — attorney
  • Bill Vinovich — C.P.A. Craig Wrolstad — athletic director

Why isn’t being a referee in the NFL a full-time position?

“It’s pretty hard to take officiating seriously when their job isn’t even their main career focus. The NFL has zero excuse to not be paying referee full-time salaries. Stop worrying about 9-5s and learn how to call PI,” one fan wrote.

“Wait refereeing isn’t their only job?!” another added.

“FULL-TIME REFS ARE NEEDED,” another said.

The NFL has reportedly started to look into the possibility of changing the long-standing status quo, as a report that suggested the league was looking into hiring officials on a full-time basis in the hopes of improving the quality of their work surfaced toward the end of the previous season.

That suggestion hasn’t been warmly received, according to Pro Football Talk, as a number of existing officials have stated they’d rather resign their jobs than have the NFL become their primary occupation.

However, the outlet also spoke with an unnamed executive who noted “These guys are not good enough for us to worry about losing them” while making it very clear they don’t think there’d be much difficulty finding new candidates who could fill the void. This executive didn’t seem overly concerned about the implications of a potential exodus.

 

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