How much do professional referees make?

Here we will take a look at three of the most popular professional sports leagues in the United States and how much referees make in each:

• NBA. NBA refs make anywhere between $180,000 and $550,000 per season. This depends on each individual ref's experience, job title, and the level of the game the ref is officiating.

  NBA refs are generally paid more to referee NBA Playoff games and a good deal more for NBA Final games.

  During the first two rounds of the playoffs referees can expect to earn around $10,000 per game, and in the semi-finals and finals refs can earn up to $30,000 per game. These earnings are separate from their base salaries.

  There are several veteran referees, such as Rodney Mott, Tony Brothers, Sean Corbin, and James Capers, that are paid an annual salary of $550,000.

• NFL. NFL referees make an average salary of $205,000 per year. This means NFL refs earn five figures for each game they referee.

  There are 18 weeks in the NFL regular season, so the average NFL referee makes an estimated $11,388 per game.

  This is just in regard to their base salary and doesn't include additional payments for preseason games, and the much larger payments they receive for playoff games.

  Referees selected to work during the NFL playoffs receive between $3,000 to $5,000 per game. Again, this is in addition to their base salary.

  The biggest bonus pay a referee can receive is when they are selected to referee the Super Bowl. During this game, an NFL referee makes an additional $40,000 to $50,000.

• MLB. Umpires in the MLB make between $150,000 to as much as $450,000 per season.

  The starting salary of a rookie MLB umpire is always at least $150,000, while salaries of around $450,000 are reserved for veteran umpires.

  MLB umpires' salary is not just for regular season games (which spans 6 months), but also for spring training, postseason games, and All-Star games.

  However, if an umpire is selected to officiate any games in the postseason, they are awarded a $38,500 bonus. Minor league umpires make considerably lower salaries, and average at around $31,000 per year.