Reference · 2026-27
2026-27 league rules that change your take-home pay
Salary caps, escrow, agent caps and squad-cost rules decide how much of a contract ever exists to be taxed. Every figure below is the number in force for the current league year, checked against the league or its collective bargaining agreement.
2026-27 league rules that change your take-home pay
Every figure below is the number in force for the current league year.
| League | 2026-27 figure | What it does to your money |
|---|---|---|
| NBA | Salary cap $164.961M · 10% escrow | Escrow only comes back if league revenue meets projections, and the second apron now punishes the teams most willing to pay you. |
| NFL | Cap $301.2M per club | Only guaranteed money is real. Signing bonus is taxed when paid, not when you earn it. |
| MLB | No cap · CBA expires 1 Dec 2026 | Deferred money can defer the tax bill by decades, but a work stoppage can delay every payment. |
| NHL | Upper limit $104.0M · floor $76.9M | Escrow plus the CAD/USD exchange rate decide what Canadian players actually bank. |
| Premier League | Squad Cost Ratio capped at 85% of revenue | Replaces PSR from 2026/27 and quietly caps wage growth at mid-table clubs. |
| Bundesliga | 70% squad-cost rule · 50+1 ownership | Wage ceilings bite earlier, so net pay rises more slowly than in England. |
| La Liga | Per-club salary limit | Registration problems, not tax, are what stop a Spanish club paying you. |
| Serie A | Growth Decree relief repealed | The flat-tax welcome for new arrivals is gone, so the Italian net advantage has shrunk. |
| Ligue 1 | DNCG financial control | Clubs can be forced into a fire sale, and your contract can move with it. |
| NCAA | House v. NCAA revenue share | School payments and NIL are both taxable, and NIL income carries self-employment tax. |
| IPL | INR 18 crore overseas cap | Auction money above the cap does not reach the player; it goes to the BCCI welfare fund. |
| Saudi Pro League | 0% personal income tax | Highest net-per-gross of the 15 leagues. The catch is everything else about the move. |
Why these rules matter more than the tax rate
A tax rate takes a slice of what you are paid. A league rule decides whether you are paid at all, and when. The NBA withholds 10% of every salary in escrow and only returns it if league revenue hits projections. The IPL caps an overseas player at INR 18 crore, and the excess never reaches the player. The Premier League's Squad Cost Ratio caps what a club may spend on wages in the first place.
Read the tax pages knowing that the gross number they start from is itself the product of these rules.
League by league: what comes off the salary
Each page covers the agent cap, escrow and any league-level deduction, computed on contracts from $1M to $25M.
- NBA contract rules
- NFL contract rules
- MLB contract rules
- NHL contract rules
- NCAA contract rules
- IPL contract rules
- Premier League contract rules
- La Liga contract rules
- Bundesliga contract rules
- Serie A contract rules
- Ligue 1 contract rules
- Primeira Liga contract rules
- Süper Lig contract rules
- Eredivisie contract rules
- Saudi Pro League contract rules
Cross-league rule comparisons
League by league
- NBA — United States & Canada
- NFL — United States
- MLB — United States & Canada
- NHL — United States & Canada
- Premier League — United Kingdom
- La Liga — Spain
- Bundesliga — Germany
- Serie A — Italy
- Ligue 1 — France
- Primeira Liga — Portugal
- Süper Lig — Turkey
- Eredivisie — Netherlands
- Saudi Pro League — Saudi Arabia
- NCAA — United States
- IPL — India
Each league page ranks every team by take-home pay at a league-typical contract, using these rules plus the tax system of the market the team plays in.