Chris_Andersen Posted June 13, 2009 Share Posted June 13, 2009 (edited) So I am new to IPSC and am curious about something. What kind of money do you think a pro shooter makes at the highest level? Guys like Todd Jarrett, Rob Letham etc. Curious to hear some input on this, I know this is a growing sport, but I didnt know who these guys were 4 months ago and am curious as to what sort of dough a guy like that makes. Cheers. Edited June 13, 2009 by BCA Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VegasOPM Posted June 13, 2009 Share Posted June 13, 2009 All I am going to say is that they don't make as much as most Pro Athletes, and that is a shame. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shred Posted June 13, 2009 Share Posted June 13, 2009 I would guess that the lowliest entry-level NFL player makes more than the top shooters. There are very very few that just get paid to shoot and do promos at gun stores, and it's unlikely that number will increase significantly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris_Andersen Posted June 13, 2009 Author Share Posted June 13, 2009 I suspect that a guy like that is alot like a golf pro. Get a small salary, travel, equipment, ammo and expenses paid for by sponsors and make decent money teaching/doing appearances. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris_Andersen Posted June 13, 2009 Author Share Posted June 13, 2009 I would guess that the lowliest entry-level NFL player makes more than the top shooters. There are very very few that just get paid to shoot and do promos at gun stores, and it's unlikely that number will increase significantly. I am 100% positive you are right on all counts there Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shred Posted June 13, 2009 Share Posted June 13, 2009 I would guess that the lowliest entry-level NFL player makes more than the top shooters. There are very very few that just get paid to shoot and do promos at gun stores, and it's unlikely that number will increase significantly. I am 100% positive you are right on all counts there Actually I just looked up NFL minimum salaries. Top IPSC shooters don't get half that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uscbigdawg Posted June 13, 2009 Share Posted June 13, 2009 I suspect that a guy like that is alot like a golf pro. Get a small salary, travel, equipment, ammo and expenses paid for by sponsors and make decent money teaching/doing appearances. There is a VERY short list of shooters that actually are being paid anything close to a salary. Rich Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G-ManBart Posted June 13, 2009 Share Posted June 13, 2009 (edited) I would guess that the lowliest entry-level NFL player makes more than the top shooters. There are very very few that just get paid to shoot and do promos at gun stores, and it's unlikely that number will increase significantly. I am 100% positive you are right on all counts there Actually I just looked up NFL minimum salaries. Top IPSC shooters don't get half that. When I read your earlier post I was already getting ready to go look up the current minimum NFL salary because I was thinking the same thing. R, Edited June 13, 2009 by G-ManBart Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jkrispies Posted June 13, 2009 Share Posted June 13, 2009 A good question that I'd be curious to hear the answer to from somebody who knows what he's talking about. I'd imagine that the top guys have a symbiotic relationship between their daily job of teaching classes to other competition shooters/actors/LE which they've scored because of their name recognition as a champion--and which not coincidentally allows them to score some daily trigger time--and their weekend job of shooting competitions, which is paid for (ie, ammo, entry fees, and maybe some other et ceteras) via sponsorships due to their skills earned in daily practice. Catching onto the circle? As I see it, they're doing what they enjoy, and they're savvy enough to make a living off of it. Good for them! Are they millionaires? Probably not. But look at Jerry Miculek. How many professional atheletes are Miculek's age and still in the game? Better yet, how many are half his age and still setting records? He may not be contracted for millions of dollars a year, but if he can make a comfortable living at it for 20 or 30 years... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mpolans Posted June 13, 2009 Share Posted June 13, 2009 Back in the early 90's, it was a big deal when Springfield signed Rob Leatham to a 10 year, $100k/year deal. He was the million dollar man in practical shooting! Given that virtually all the paid professionals are also doing non-shooting stuff for manufacturers (product testing, training, maybe some R&D, etc.) it's probably hard to say how much of it based on shooting and how much of it is other non-shooting work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CHA-LEE Posted June 13, 2009 Share Posted June 13, 2009 If there was "Big Money" in being a professional practical shooting competitor there would be 100 times as many people involved in the sport. There are not a ton of people involved in the sport and that should tell you where the $$ payout ends up for the top dogs. Practical shooting sports are not a "Win on Sunday, Sell on Monday" type of advertisement medium for manufactures. We all know too well that its the Indian winning the matches, not the Arrows they use. So that type of marketing just does not work for Practical shooting sports. The major firearm manufactures will still make money hand over fist even if they didn't sponsor or employ any top shooters. So what would be their motivation to field huge teams or pay big bucks to have "Joe Blow" Pro shooter using their stuff? Just like any other business, you are only going to spend what you have to on advertisement to sell your products. A gun manufacture would be better served to spend $100K on advertisements in magazines verses paying shooters to attend matches, or even give away products for match sponsorship. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lugnut Posted June 13, 2009 Share Posted June 13, 2009 If there was "Big Money" in being a professional practical shooting competitor there would be 100 times as many people involved in the sport. There are not a ton of people involved in the sport and that should tell you where the $$ payout ends up for the top dogs.Practical shooting sports are not a "Win on Sunday, Sell on Monday" type of advertisement medium for manufactures. We all know too well that its the Indian winning the matches, not the Arrows they use. So that type of marketing just does not work for Practical shooting sports. The major firearm manufactures will still make money hand over fist even if they didn't sponsor or employ any top shooters. So what would be their motivation to field huge teams or pay big bucks to have "Joe Blow" Pro shooter using their stuff? Just like any other business, you are only going to spend what you have to on advertisement to sell your products. A gun manufacture would be better served to spend $100K on advertisements in magazines verses paying shooters to attend matches, or even give away products for match sponsorship. Not so sure I 100% agree with you on all this. I think a good named shooter does help the brand. Like who the heck doesn't know Sevigny shoots a Glock? At that he and Vogel dominate production with Glocks? $100K doesn't get much in advertising these days... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CHA-LEE Posted June 13, 2009 Share Posted June 13, 2009 lugnut> Sure, Sevigny is a great shooter and his name is synonymous with "Glock" in the competition shooting world. But the reputation of "Glock" being a well crafted and capable firearm was well known before Sevigny and will continue on when he is gone. Glock would sell the same amount of guns to every day practical shooters simply due to their well known functional reputation, favorable price point and already heavy adoption rate in the sport. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
benny hill Posted June 13, 2009 Share Posted June 13, 2009 I know that certain "paid" shooters at the top make about $80,000. a year plus expenses. The money is in the training. If you travel a lot, live out of hotels & teach a lot of classes, you can make up to about $200,000. a year but you have to cover your own exp.'s Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nik Habicht Posted June 13, 2009 Share Posted June 13, 2009 As I see it, they're doing what they enjoy, and they're savvy enough to make a living off of it. The enjoyment changes quite a bit when you start doing something you love for a living. Doesn't mean that it becomes unpleasant --- but it definitely changes..... I've seen how hard pro shooters work at teaching --- and I'm pretty sure that once all the expenses are paid, they're making a fairly comfortable living, while they could certainly earn much more in other industries with that same level of work and drive to succeed.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Boudrie Posted June 13, 2009 Share Posted June 13, 2009 I'd guess that many of the people who make a living by being excellent shooters don't get paid just for "shooting", but have been able to use that name recognition to open up other opportunities. Dave Sevigny is a great shooter and is also the kind of person who any company should be proud to have in front of the public representing their organization. Ditto for Julie Goloski and a few others I can think of. Both of these people have significant responsibilities in their employment that go far beyond "professional shooter". I expect that Max Michel, who recently joined Sig, will have job duties that go beyond that of "professional shooter". Others have used their match wins to open opportunities to do training that would otherwise be closed. I know of some GM's without any LEO or military background who get paid by the US and friendly foreign government to teach people how to shoot. I don't know of any crucible outside of USPSA/IPSC competition where persons who have never "lived tactical for real" obtained the credibility to teach shooting tactics to the US military and three letter agencies. I doubt that Golf of NFL pros are given corporate assignments other than play their game, make commercials, and do in person appearances. Winning every match in sight can be a great door opener, but the number of people who get paid to shoot without having any other job responsibilities can probably be counted on one hand (without using your thumb). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
g.willikers Posted June 13, 2009 Share Posted June 13, 2009 It's possible to make a small fortune this way............. But, you will have to start with a large one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ffl Posted June 13, 2009 Share Posted June 13, 2009 not as much as you think. some amateur shooters make alot more than a pro. they are not as good as a pro so they keep their day jobs to support their habit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carmoney Posted June 14, 2009 Share Posted June 14, 2009 .....I know this is a growing sport..... Sadly, this is not true. There was a time (about 15-20 years ago) when competitive handgunning looked like it might be at the verge of making the jump to the mainstream. There was a real multi-disciplinary circuit of big match events to attend, all of which had real prizes (remember when you could win $25,000 or $50,000 or a Rolex or a Jeep?) for the winners. Springfield/Safariland and Smith & Wesson had big teams of sponsored and semi-sponsored shooters, and other teams were being formed. Beer companies and car manufacturers were interested in signing up for advertising and match sponsorship, not just sponsors from within the shooting industry. Then it all fell apart. What happened? Well, it depends on who you ask. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carmoney Posted June 14, 2009 Share Posted June 14, 2009 I know that certain "paid" shooters at the top make about $80,000. a year plus expenses. The money is in the training. If you travel a lot, live out of hotels & teach a lot of classes, you can make up to about $200,000. a year but you have to cover your own exp.'s And that would be the very top end of it. I'll bet you could count on one hand the number of pro shooters who earn anywhere near that range. It looks absolutely awful to me, frankly. I love competition shooting, but I would never want to shoot for a living. And training would be far, far worse. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles Bond Posted June 14, 2009 Share Posted June 14, 2009 Four observations: 1. Dave Sevigny may have done more for Glock than any other shooter ever did for a company by his success in our limited nationals with a strker fired weapon. Of course it is up to Glock to place a value on that and if you are selling all you can produce anyway, the reward to the professional shooter might not be as large as he would otherwise deserve. 2. While the money has never been better for professional shooters, unless and until we have something that can be televised with interest to the general sporting population, you are never going to have a professional shooter making anywhere close to half of an NFL player. 3. The fact most professional shooters have jobs with their sponsor aside from the shooting is a huge plus over other sports. Blow your knee on a ball team and you are going home soon to be forgotten. Shooters on the other hand have the opportunity to become key employees and have a job after the sun sets on their ability to place in the top 5 at any given match. While it is true their shooting ability got them in the door, having the opportunity to prove their worth to their employer behind a desk is an advantage that can not be ignored. In other words after that 19 year old shooter dethrones you in a few years, you still have the ability to bring home the bacon for your family. 4. Personality is about as important in a professional shooter as ability. We all know professional shooters who have never made GM but work 5 days a week in the industry representing their employers and many others running trainning programs which are in high demand despite having never earned a GM card. Sadly we also know many GMs who could never make the jump to being an industry employee due to suffering from personality challenges. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike H Posted June 14, 2009 Share Posted June 14, 2009 Without a doubt, the big money in competitive shooting is derived from teaching the LE/MIL crowd. MISS and John Shaw come to mind, don't know about today, but at one time Shaw's facility was booked 50 out of 52 weeks every year. One heck of a range. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
el pres Posted June 14, 2009 Share Posted June 14, 2009 What happened? Well, it depends on who you ask. Well, who do we ask ?? Intresting .. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j1b Posted June 14, 2009 Share Posted June 14, 2009 What happened? Well, it depends on who you ask. Well, who do we ask ?? Intresting .. R.O.I. happened. I've typed, deleted, re-typed, and deleted 5 posts to this thread. It is a major frustration of mine. R.O.I happened. Plain and simple. Jack Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kgunz11 Posted June 14, 2009 Share Posted June 14, 2009 I wish I could talk about Max Michel Jr.'s obligations with Sig, but I don't think he'd appreciate it. I will say this, it's one heck of a sweet deal I'd love to have! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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