I did an internship with RSL a few years back. Those guys that are making $32k a year also get really sweet benefits. There were about 6 of them on the team at the time. RSL owned a house in Sandy at the time (not sure if they still do). It was a decent home and those guys lived in the house together rent free. They all had their own bedrooms. They pretty much practiced 5 days a week. Breakfast and lunch was provided to them at no cost. Game day, they received lunch and dinner. They also received tons of free clothing from Adidas. There were player appearances that they could volunteer for about once every other week, which they got paid $250 per. They also get from about October/November to February/March off. The days they practice they are done around 1-2pm'ish.

Sure on paper it doesn't look like a whole lot of money but they really don't have normal costs, they have some sweet benefits, and they are chasing their dreams to play a game.