How Much Do Professional Sports Team Mascots Make?

We’ve all seen their antics, and laughed when they’ve taken a spill, but have you ever wondered how much do professional sports team mascots make in a year? The high-flying trampoline dunks, the mascot shooting t-shirts into the crowd, even the mascot putting on skits for tailgaters before the game, all involve a lot of effort and skill on the part of the mascot. However, the salary for the mascot can vary depending on the sport and the qualifications of the particular mascot.

The salary for a professional sports team mascot varies depending on the individual mascot himself, as well as the sport.

Average Baseball and Basketball Team Mascots

If you get into the mascot profession and work for a baseball or basketball team, you should know that over half of the teams on these leagues pay on a per-game basis, starting somewhere between $100 and $200 per game.

The other half of the teams in these two leagues start their professional mascots at a base salary of somewhere between $25,000 and $30,000, with annual raises and incentive bonuses for those who go above and beyond the typical mascot duties. 

Sample Mascot Salaries

There can be a wide range in how much professional sports team mascots make. Just look at a few different salaries to see the difference:

Tampa Bay Lightning Mascot

The mascot for the NHL’s Tampa Bay Lightning is named “Thunderbug.” The 10 pound costume takes just over 10 minutes to put on and prepare. The costume is donned by a 27 year-old USF student from Tampa who performs as Thunderbug as a full-time gig. Sweating it out in the costume 40 hours a week nets the student over $40,000 a year.

Miami Heat Mascot

Compare, at the higher end of the salary scale, the Miami Heat mascot, Burnie. In the year 2004, after having performed as the character for a number of years, the organization decided to let the performer go and hire a younger talent for the job. The reported salary for the talent that performed as Burnie in the year he was let go? Over $100,000 a year. 

Rocky the Mountain Lion

There’s also Rocky, the mountain lion who mascots for the NBA’s Denver Nuggets. He has become such an icon among Nugget fans that his traditional “no-look-behind-the-back-half-court shot” performed at halftime is to many fans a precursor for the outcome of the game. Because of his production value and the energy he brings to the Denver fans, Rocky nets a reported six figure sum every year as well. 

Higher Paid Mascots

So why are some mascots to much more highly paid than others? Higher salaries are usually available to people who already have a degree of some kind in either theater or arts and drama. Higher salaries can be commanded here because these individuals typically are able to put on the best show. They have been trained in using their bodies to express emotions, and can convey excitement to a crowd and often times make the excitement contagious.

Mascots must be able to keep crowd spirits up, even when their team is not doing so well, which can be a feat in itself. These mascots, as well as those who have been in the profession for a substantial amount of time, are able to make as much as $100,000 per year or even more. 

So the next time you see someone in a big furry costume and wonder how much do professional sports team mascots make, even if the mascot is an elephant, chances are the person in the costume isn’t working for peanuts.