Overseas Basketball Salaries: Guatemala Basketball League [Players Survey]
GUATEMALA BASKETBALL SALARIES SUMMARY:
|
Monthly Salary Ranges: |
Below $500USD - $1,500USD |
|
Most Commonly Reported Monthly Salary: |
$500USD - $999USD (50%) |
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Lowest Reported Monthly Salary: |
Below 500USD (25%) |
|
Highest Reported Monthly Salary: |
$1,000 - $1,500USD (25%) |
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Salary Ranking in Central America Pro Basketball: |
No.5 |
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Import Pro Players Surveyed in Guatemala: |
16 |
Source : Josecolorado.com, Professional Basketball Players Survey Data [2020]
In Guatemala the average professional basketball player’s salary is between $500USD - $999USD per month with 50% of pro players reporting their income in this range.
But there is little difference between the MAX and MINIMUM basketball wage as the entire salary range for Guatemala pro basketball is between $0 - $1,500USD.
Another key factor to consider is rarely do professional basketball teams in Guatemala actually sign foreign-born overseas basketball players to play in its two professional leagues.
Instead, typically teams will go through an entire season with all locals (Guatemalans).
Guatemala monthly basketball salaries (players survey)
Guatemala BASKETBALL league salaries: LIGA Metropolitana and liga nacional
In Guatemala there are two main professional basketball leagues:
La Liga-Metropolitana (Metro)
La Liga Nacional
However, much like how I outlined in my post about Honduras’ having only a couple of teams capable of paying, Guatemala is pretty much in the same boat.
In that sense then, Guatemala is much more semi-professional than professional for a few key reasons.
Not all players are paid
Foreign players are rarely added to teams
Few financial sponsors
Few financial incentives
After reading all of that, if you’re still interested in playing in Guatemala then let’s continue.
If not:
I would recommend clicking over to some more serious full-time professional leagues in Central America with much higher financial incentives including:
Or you check out my massive global index of basketball salaries around the world.
Anyways, back to Guatemala:
When it comes to this Central American country - coaches, GMs and basketball insiders are in agreement:
ELOHIM CHIMALTENANGO is the best-paying professional basketball club in Guatemala.
For its part Elohim has won 2 of the past 3 championships in La Liga Metro and were off to a great start (3-0, win-loss record) in 2020 until the season was cancelled.
La Liga Metro also has 8 other pro basketball clubs:
BALL-KIK
CLUB FORCE
FORZA
GMS
OLMECA
PAMPICHI
UNIVERSIDAD SAN CARLOS DE GUATEMALA
VILLA NUEVA
But even if you are to land with the best-paying club in Elohim, you won’t be making much as a foreigner.
Worse yet:
There is not guarantee any club will bring you in for more than a few weeks of the playoffs.
Bringing a foreigner in for the playoffs is the exception not the rule.
To illustrate this point, I messaged a long-time former national team coach in Guatemala about which league paid more - Metro or Nacional.
He responded:
“Neither haha, maybe (you’ll) get something in the playoffs.”
That may partly explain why it was so difficult for me to even get 15+ foreigner participants for the survey.
There just simply isn’t a huge sample size of foreigners who have played professionally in Guatemala.
But I can’t help but think:
This is somewhat surprising for a few reasons.
(1.) Just look at this video I found from 2015 and how fired up the fans are.
That certainly doesn’t look like a fan base with little enthusiasm for the sport…
(2.) Guatemala also has a beautiful national gym as you can see.
It’s called Gimnasio Teodoro Palacio Flores.
And it makes for a great venue for all Metro games as the entire season schedule is played here.
Guatemala’s basketball league has a great national gym that should help increase basketball salaries and the fan base in the future.
(3.) The country also recently hosted the U16 Central American Championships.
So while Guatemala definitely does have much room to grow in its professional basketball salaries and overall league, it looks like there is a decent amount of interest and effort in growing the sport.
And that’s something overseas players should keep an eye on moving forward when looking at Central American - and Guatemalan - pro opportunities.
AVERAGE SALARY PER YEAR PLAYING PROFESSIONAL BASKETBALL IN GUATEMALA
The good news about Guatemala is it runs multiple leagues throughout the year.
That means foreigners will have multiple chances to get picked up.
In general:
Guatemala mirrors El Salvador’s professional system format where both of its domestic leagues run just slightly after one another.
For example:
Metro has two leagues per season - Apertura (the first season) and Clausura (the second season).
These run from about:
Metro Apertura (January - April)
Metro Clausura (August - November)
La Liga Nacional usually starts a couple weeks after Metro starts.
This is almost identical to El Salvador’s pro system as the Liga Superior de Baloncesto (LSB) begins just a few weeks after La Liga Mayor (LMB) kicks off.
In the BEST CASE scenario then…
If we take the most commonly reported monthly salary ($500USD - $999)
Pinpoint the middle of that range ($750USD)
Multiple $750x8 (for the number of months played per year)
Then we can make the assumption…
THE AVERAGE FOREIGN PLAYER’S YEARLY INCOME, in the best case scenario - IF HE WERE TO PLAY PROFESSIONAL BASKETBALL ONLY IN guatemala - WOULD BE $6,000USD
Again:
This is the BEST CASE scenario.
In fact, to be blunt I’d say it’s a very unlikely scenario.
Remember:
In Guatemala, imports are rarely brought in for the playoffs - let alone for the entire duration of the season.
So realistically when looking at Guatemala think of it as (a). an afterthought and (b.) a quick paycheque after having already played in another Central American league (more on this later).
If you get a little bit of extra cash before you go home - great.
If not, you weren’t relying on it anyway.
Indeed, despite the little money - that didn’t stop players with multiple years of experience in Central America from playing in Guatemala.
It’s very unlikely either league will fly you out directly for an opportunity to play.
Instead:
A huge focus will be placed on:
Proximity (how close you are to Guatemala)
Cost (how much you’ll want)
Convenience (how hard will it be to get you over to Guatemala?)
That’s a good and bad thing.
On the one hand:
That requirement alone will rule out thousands of foreigners who may want to play in Guatemala.
They simply won’t be close enough for Guatemalan teams to cost-efficiently bring them over.
On the other hand:
If you’re not nearby either, you’ll also get left behind.
The key then is to be playing in nearby leagues in Central America.
Because Guatemala has so many seasons going on throughout the year (i.e. Metro & Nacional) you’re almost guaranteed to be at least considered when your season finishes in another country.
Look at this calendar as an example.
Based on this scheduling then, many players could finish their “main” season in Central America (in this specific example, El Salvador on the 12th) and then head over to Guatemala afterwards (no flight needed, just a cheap bus ride).
For years, overseas players in Central America were frustrated with not being able to maintain a steady pay cheque while playing down south.
But by using the League Hop strategy, many overseas players have learned how to consistently bring in money almost year-round.
This technique fits perfectly for Guatemala. Check it out here.
GUATEMALA’s BASKETBALL SALARY RANKING IN CENTRAL AMERICA
In the big picture:
When looking at Guatemala it would be unfair to compare it to other formal professional leagues in Central America.
Since Guatemala isn’t considered fully professional, it’s a useless comparison.
So that rules out:
Belize
Panama
Nicaragua
El Salvador
What would be more helpful is to lump Guatemala in with countries such as:
Costa Rica
Honduras
As these countries aren’t fully professional either but they have the potential to bring over foreigners for playoff runs.
If we do that then, there is no significant difference between Honduras and Guatemala when talking basketball salaries.
One final thing to consider though between the two countries:
In the last Central American Championships (2018) - an event where the best club teams from each Central American country play in a tournament, Guatemala and Panama were the only participants to not bring foreign players.
Panama didn’t bring any because they’re just that good.
Guatemala didn’t because of they had no money.
Guatemala Basketball Salaries Recap:
The average monthly salary reported in Guatemala pro basketball is between $500USD - $999USD
ELOHIM CHIMALTENANGO is regarded as the best-paying basketball club in Guatemala
Only some pro players are paid in Guatemala’s two main professional basketball leagues, La Liga Metro and La Liga Nacional
Guatemala rarely brings in foreign overseas basketball players
Have any questions about Guatemala basketball or Guatemala basketball salaries?
Leave a comment below and let me know!
Jose Colorado is a five-year professional basketball player helping others achieve their goals of pro basketball through a proven, research-based approach.
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