Umpires, Referees, and Other Sports Officials
Hospitality and TourismO*NET 27-2023.00United States
Officiate at competitive athletic or sporting events. Detect infractions of rules and decide penalties according to established regulations.
- Median annual earnings
- $41,788
- Projected change
- −0.2%
- Typical education
- High school diploma or less
- Employment
- 26.25K jobs
50th percentile, United States
2025 to 2035
66.7% of the workforce
Growing to 26.21K by 2035
Explore this career by location
Compare nationwide estimates with state or county job-market data.
Showing United States
Loading available locations…
Build the skills
ASU learning related to this career
These courses and certificates are connected through catalog career relationships and Lightcast skill tags.
Loading related ASU learning
The work
What umpires, referees, and other sports officials do
Tasks reported for this occupation, ordered by how often they come up in the role.
- Officiate at sporting events, games, or competitions, to maintain standards of play and to ensure that game rules are observed.
- Inspect game sites for compliance with regulations or safety requirements.
- Resolve claims of rule infractions or complaints by participants and assess any necessary penalties, according to regulations.
- Signal participants or other officials to make them aware of infractions or to otherwise regulate play or competition.
- Teach and explain the rules and regulations governing a specific sport.
- Inspect sporting equipment or examine participants to ensure compliance with event and safety regulations.
- Report to regulating organizations regarding sporting activities, complaints made, and actions taken or needed, such as fines or other disciplinary actions.
- Confer with other sporting officials, coaches, players, and facility managers to provide information, coordinate activities, and discuss problems.
Pay and outlook
What the job pays and where it is heading
Annual earnings range
Reported earnings by percentile, United States
- 10th percentile
- $21,357
- 25th percentile
- $29,453
- 50th percentile
- $41,788
- 75th percentile
- $65,771
- 90th percentile
- $109,828
The gold marker shows the median. Half earn more than $41,788 and half earn less.
Employment outlook
2025 to 2035 projection
−0.2%projected to decline
202526,252 jobs
2035 projected26,212 jobs
40 fewer positions over the decade, before replacement hiring.
Preparation
Education levels
What people currently working in the career hold. These are not entry requirements.
- High school diploma or less
- 66.7%
- Bachelor's degree
- 14.3%
- Certificate
- 9.5%
- Associate degree
- 4.8%
- Doctoral degree or more
- 4.8%
Skills
Skills employers ask for
Technical skills appearing most often in job postings for this occupation.
How the work gets done
Core competencies
Broad capabilities associated with strong performance in this occupation.
- Speaking
- Talking to others to convey information effectively.
- Critical Thinking
- Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions, or approaches to problems.
- Judgment and Decision Making
- Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.
- Active Listening
- Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
- Monitoring
- Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
- Reading Comprehension
- Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work-related documents.
- Active Learning
- Understanding the implications of new information for both current and future problem-solving and decision-making.
- Coordination
- Adjusting actions in relation to others' actions.
- Learning Strategies
- Selecting and using training/instructional methods and procedures appropriate for the situation when learning or teaching new things.
- Complex Problem Solving
- Identifying complex problems and reviewing related information to develop and evaluate options and implement solutions.
- Social Perceptiveness
- Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
- Time Management
- Managing one's own time and the time of others.
- Instructing
- Teaching others how to do something.
- Negotiation
- Bringing others together and trying to reconcile differences.
- Service Orientation
- Actively looking for ways to help people.
- Persuasion
- Persuading others to change their minds or behavior.
- Writing
- Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.
- Mathematics
- Using mathematics to solve problems.
- Systems Evaluation
- Identifying measures or indicators of system performance and the actions needed to improve or correct performance, relative to the goals of the system.
- Management of Personnel Resources
- Motivating, developing, and directing people as they work, identifying the best people for the job.
In the market
Job titles and employers
Recent job postings in United StatesCommon job titles
- 01Timekeepers274 postings
- 02Sports Officials254 postings
- 03Scorekeepers214 postings
- 04Basketball Referees209 postings
- 05Flag Football Coaches204 postings
- 06Youth Sports Officials191 postings
- 07Referees188 postings
- 08Flag Football Referees148 postings
- 09Soccer Referees147 postings
- 10Baseball Umpires121 postings
- 11Youth Soccer Referees110 postings
- 12Basketball Officials106 postings
- 13Softball Umpires104 postings
- 14Soccer Officials87 postings
- 15Volleyball Referees80 postings
- 16Game Day Assistants72 postings
- 17Volleyball Officials63 postings
- 18Scoreboard Operators56 postings
- 19Basketball Managers51 postings
- 20Youth Sports Directors49 postings
Top employers
- 01YMCA629 postings
- 02RCX Sports Holding77 postings
- 03Volo Sports61 postings
- 04I9 Sports59 postings
- 05Official Finders59 postings
- 06Colleyville Lifetime Fitness43 postings
- 07Life Time42 postings
- 08Puttshack31 postings
- 09Bechtel28 postings
- 10Chug A Lug Sports Bar28 postings
- 11Txodds27 postings
- 12Toca Football22 postings
- 13Domino's Pizza19 postings
- 14Oak View Group19 postings
- 15Millennium Health & Fitness17 postings
- 16Eastern Sports Management15 postings
- 17Bechtel Global Corporation14 postings
- 18Cicero Public School District # 9914 postings
- 19Pennsylvania State University14 postings
- 20Chico Area Recreation & Park District12 postings
Keep looking