The 2019 MLB All-Star Game offers fans a look at some of the biggest and best names in all of baseball together on the same field when the American and National Leagues square off. This year’s matchup will be played in Cleveland, Ohio and features an increased prize pool compared to what was paid out last season by the league.
As Thomas Barrabi of FOX Business revealed, there’s a total of $800,000 that will be split up, compared to $640,000 for the 2018 edition of the game. But there’s a catch, as it’s only the winning team’s 32 active players who will receive the $25,000 bonus money, which surely provides an interesting bit of added motivation for both teams.
Although players will have to be on the winning side of the All-Star game to receive the big check, there are perks for all players and other ways for them to earn cash as well. Specifically, it will depend on how many fan votes members of each team received.
MLB All-Star Game Bonuses Based on Fan Votes
GettyFrancisco Lindor and Jose Abreu at the 2019 MLB All-Star Game
While the $25,000 checks to the winning team are nice, players will also receive money based on the fan voting for the game. As Sean Packard of Forbes explains, the leading vote-getters at each position will all receive $15,000, including the three top outfielders in both the American and National Leagues.
For those players who fell short of being the top vote-getter at their position, they won’t go home empty-handed, as each player who was second in voting earns a $5,000 bonus while third-place finishers receive $2,500. At the very least, it’s a nice way for every All-Star to take home some cash, even if they wind up on the losing side of the game.
While the MLB has added money to the incentive for each team to try to win the game, they also provide additional perks which are given to all players.
MLB All-Star Salaries: Perks & Benefits
There’s no question that the bonus for winning is the selling point once players get the competitive juices flowing, but every All-Star is given additional benefits for being voted into the game. As FOX Business explains, this includes first-class airfare and hotel accommodations, a $1,000 cash stipend, six tickets to the All-Star Game and Home Run Derby, meal allowances and an additional gift from their respective league.
Each of these perks is set in the MLB labor agreement, and the increased total prize pool stems from negotiations which took part between the MLB and players union this past offseason, per FOX Business.
As appealing as an extra $25k-$40k plus the additional bonuses may seem, it’s interesting to evaluate how that compares to the Home Run Derby. The 2019 event which was held on Monday, July 8, features an impressive $2.5 million in total prize money, and it’s spread across the eight participants. As Forbes points out, the first-place payday, which was awarded to New York Mets rookie Pete Alonso, added an impressive $1 million to his bank account.
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MLB All-Star Game Salary: How Much Bonus Money Do Players Make?