The comparison between the salaries of the protagonists of the present and the past also applies to the MotoGP. We reveal a curiosity about Agostini
It is a curiosity shared by many enthusiasts that of comparing the various eras experienced by a sport, in which the protagonists, the winners and also many of the connected economic-financial aspects change.
Obviously, the latter also include the wages perceived by those who contributed to writing indelible pages of history in the relevant sport. There are many possible examples. Let’s take the Soccer first of all. It is impossible to compare the wages of champions who played in different eras. Maradona received 1.7 billion lire at Napoli at the end of the 1980s, pennies compared to the salaries of Messi, Ronaldo, Mbappé but also of other players far removed, in terms of performance, from the Argentine champion.
The same goes for the Tennis. Novak Djokovic, the most successful tennis player ever still active, has accumulated prize money of 182 million dollars in his career. This figure includes only the prizes obtained from tournaments won and excludes various emoluments from sponsors and advertising. Unthinkable figures for champions – just to name a few – such as Borg, Laver, McEnroe, Connors, Lendl, Wilander or, to stay in more recent times, Agassi and Sampras.
MotoGP salaries, the comparison between Agostini and the MotoGP riders
The same large difference that we found in Football and Tennis also emerges in the MotoGP. In this regard, it is impossible not to mention the great Giacomo Agostini. Born in 1942, the Champion competed in his career with Moto Morini, Mv Agusta, Yamaha and Suzuki, winning 15 World Championships. The number of triumphs in the GPs is also impressive, 123.
Agostini competed in a pioneering era of motorcycling. Between the 60s and 70s, the motorbikes were far from the current ones in terms of speed, safety standards and reliability, further aspects that increase the legend of the champion from Brescia.
But what was Agostini’s salary in those years? This was revealed by Gazzetta dello Sport, according to which the former driver received money from MV Agusta 20 million lire per year, a salary which, revalued, would correspond to 190 thousand euros today. The leap for Agostini came in 1973 with the move to Yamaha which – again according to the Gazzetta – paid him 200 thousand yen per year, or 300 million lire per year. An impressive salary in the Italy of the time where a worker received 100 thousand lire a month.
At the same time, the comparison between Agostini’s wages and those of the current MotoGP protagonists is impressive. As Motosprint reports, there are some of the highest paid riders Franco Morbidelli, Alex Rins, Jack Miller (all at 3 million euros, therefore ten times more than Agostini). Pecco Bagnaia with 5.5. million receives almost twenty times more than its predecessor, as well as Mir And Quartararo which stand at around 6 million.
This last figure should also be the prerogative of Marquez after the move from Honda to Gresini which seems to have also involved a significant reduction in the salary that the Japanese team gave him
