stringer rates

i've been thinking about leaving the business full-time but would want to still find some work in it and keep writing.

what is the going rate for a stringer covering a game, writing a feature, preview, sidebar, etc.? let's say at a major metro -- like seattle, minneapolis, denver, chicago, san diego ...

 

The major metro I string for pays $55 for high school football for two or three paragraphs and a box score.

 

For a straight gamer (generally college games but not always), I got paid 25 bucks at a broke 15K, 50 bucks at a 50K, 75 bucks at a 100K and 100 bucks at a 300K.

Usually 15-20 inch stories, maybe a box too.

 

30 bucks at a mid size daily. 100 bucks at a major metro.

 

At a 40,000-50,000 daily located in a Top 30 Television Market, the stringer rate for high school and college games is $40. That usually includes something around a 10-inch gamer and a box. Depending on the news day, gamers can be longer or shorter.

 

made $50 at a 75k paper and also stringing for the AP. Have made $100 for slightly larger papers covering visiting teams when they came to my area.

 

DMN: $55

FWST: $45

The DMN has been at $55 for a decade now. But going higher than that over a 10-game season means the total goes over $600, they send you a 1099, and the income has to be reported.

 

Stringer rates have actually gone down since I was in college. That's scary...

I have never gotten less than $50 for a gamer and that includes volleyball gamers back for tiny college papers in 1993.

 

The income has to be reported whatever amount is made, of course. The 1099 merely notifies the IRS that a reasonably significant amount has been made.

 

I was just paid $125 for a 13-inch gamer that took about 12 minutes. Don't really understand why they offered so much. I'll take it.

 

i was last a stringer a few years ago, when i was getting from $75 to $150 for nfl, college and wnba gamers. the newark star ledger was the best paying major paper.

 

No wonder papers are going under.

The major metro you string for would be better served hiring an agate monkey and writing up two or three paragraphs off of a phone call.

$55 for two or three graphs is the dumbest thing I've heard in a long time.