Do professional athletes deserve their pay?

[joelbc1]

It really wasn't that long ago (as late as the 60's) that most professional athletes worked fulltime jobs in their offseason to make ends meet. It isn't that way any more...unless they're serving jail time.
Of course athletes are over paid...as are entertainers. However, they are a victim of our socieites priorities. Our society loves athletes and entertainers.

 

[ICHawk24]

Pro baseball player average salary 5 million
Cancer Researcher (with PHD) 49-64 K per year
Heart Surgeon at UIHC. Approx 150-200K
Which of the above contributes to society the least.

Perhaps you should compare the average pro player salary to the top 800 doctors in the world. The average salary of those 800 is closer to 5 million than 200k.

Also figure in the fact that a doctor can easily have a 30 year career, while the average athlete is lucky to get 5.

 

[PJHawk]

Do I like to see how much they do make? No, it's ridiculous. But with as much money as they bring to the owners, I'd rather see them get paid their fair share over seeing the owners pad THEIR wallets even more.

That's a fair point, who deserves the money more the athletes or the owners? I say neither and in a perfect world there would be an overall de-leveraging of sports across the board - athletes, owners, coaches would all make less money with a corresponding drop in ticket prices and TV contracts. Ten years ago there were roughly a dozen college coaches that made more than a million dollars a year now Saban makes 4 million and IIRC so does Lane Kiffin. Red McCombs buys the Vikings in 1999 for 250 million and five years later sells the team for 600 million, WTF? The whole sports world economics are more hyper-inflated than the subprime housing market was.

 

[Husky28]

That's a fair point, who deserves the money more the athletes or the owners? I say neither and in a perfect world there would be an overall de-leveraging of sports across the board - athletes, owners, coaches would all make less money with a corresponding drop in ticket prices and TV contracts. Ten years ago there were roughly a dozen college coaches that made more than a million dollars a year now Saban makes 4 million and IIRC so does Lane Kiffin. Red McCombs buys the Vikings in 1999 for 250 million and five years later sells the team for 600 million, WTF? The whole sports world economics are more hyper-inflated than the subprime housing market was.

and why do you think that is? It's the fans driving the market and revenue... It doesn't matter if it's on TV or courtside, it's all about meeting the desire of the fan. More fans mean more revenue - of course fans buying 8-10 dollar beers doesn't help any either. LOL Does anyone else here realize how many jobs are provided to people working these venues?

 

[forcheyhawk]

Pro baseball player average salary 5 million
Cancer Researcher (with PHD) 49-64 K per year
Heart Surgeon at UIHC. Approx 150-200K
Which of the above contributes to society the least.

Very subjective question. Think about this - the baseball player impacts 70,000 people live every day of a season. How many young boys and girls end up leading a life of sports rather than a life of drugs and alcohol because of this?

The Cancer Researcher - Has he really solved the problem of cancer?

The Heart Surgeon - How many lives can he truly save in a week? Then think back to the little girl or boy in the stands that may have ended up in a gang or a life of drugs and alcohol instead of sports.

I personally don't think this question is as cut and dried as others might think it is.

 

[clicheusername3]

Pro baseball players lead the world in Money earned per hours standing around doing nothing.

 

[Husky28]

Very subjective question. Think about this - the baseball player impacts 70,000 people live every day of a season. How many young boys and girls end up leading a life of sports rather than a life of drugs and alcohol because of this?

The Cancer Researcher - Has he really solved the problem of cancer?

The Heart Surgeon - How many lives can he truly save in a week? Then think back to the little girl or boy in the stands that may have ended up in a gang or a life of drugs and alcohol instead of sports.

I personally don't think this question is as cut and dried as others might think it is.

Very good points. I personally think they all contribute in their own way and you can't measure by the value of their check. If a checkout person smiles and helps a customer have a better day because of that smile... Do they contribute any less than the Dr. or ball player... I personally think not. The same could be said about that very same checkout person who deosn't smile and is rude to customers... in effect, the reaction has the potential to be the same as the negative publicity of an athlete messing up. Just on different platforms...

 

[Ozhawk]

Very subjective question. Think about this - the baseball player impacts 70,000 people live every day of a season. How many young boys and girls end up leading a life of sports rather than a life of drugs and alcohol because of this?

The Cancer Researcher - Has he really solved the problem of cancer?

The Heart Surgeon - How many lives can he truly save in a week? Then think back to the little girl or boy in the stands that may have ended up in a gang or a life of drugs and alcohol instead of sports.

I personally don't think this question is as cut and dried as others might think it is.

If all of the heart surgeons in the world vanished and all of the baseball players in the world vanished which missing group would have a greater negative impact?

 

[hawktransplant]

If all of the heart surgeons in the world vanished and all of the baseball players in the world vanished which missing group would have a greater negative impact?

baseball players---easy question.

 

[pezhawk2]

Very subjective question. Think about this - the baseball player impacts 70,000 people live every day of a season. How many young boys and girls end up leading a life of sports rather than a life of drugs and alcohol because of this?

I'd venture way fewer then you think. Few little boys and girls end up leading a life of sports past high school.

Plus your 70,000 figure is high. Assuming every game is a sell-out (which is a stretch) I'd put that number closer to 45-50K then 70.

I have no issues with sports-salaries, but lets not pretend the professional athlete is a life-changer.

 

[phays01]

They need to wake up and realize that the athletes have every right to make that much. Do I like to see how much they do make? No, it's ridiculous. But with as much money as they bring to the owners, I'd rather see them get paid their fair share over seeing the owners pad THEIR wallets even more.

The ones who pay the bills and are risking their own money and assets to bring a product to market, deserve the lion share of the profits. I don't have anything against athletes making money, but-as one man does not a team make, I would prefer to see the money spread 'more' evenly amung starters. (In all sports.) Lebron is great, but he would lose every game if he had to go 5 on 1. If the players want more than what they get now...then they can purchase a team and pay all the bills too.

 

[whammer33024]

how many little kids do you hear say their hero is dr. johnson?

how many kids do you hear say brett favre is my hero?

 

[Ozhawk]

baseball players---easy question.

Now thats what I call a home run answer.

 

[Cyclones17]

To the OP. Does your family also refuse to watch a movie with Julia Roberts in it because she makes millions of dollars making it? Because it's the same line of thinking.

 

[pin2win]

i think they should get base plus "commision"


make these athletes want to perform to make it interesting i can't believe ppl keep watching the nba its pathetic. thank god we don't pay college athletes otherwise sports wouldn't be worth wathcing.

 

[tm3308]

The ones who pay the bills and are risking their own money and assets to bring a product to market, deserve the lion share of the profits. I don't have anything against athletes making money, but-as one man does not a team make, I would prefer to see the money spread 'more' evenly amung starters. (In all sports.) Lebron is great, but he would lose every game if he had to go 5 on 1. If the players want more than what they get now...then they can purchase a team and pay all the bills too.

And the owners do make more money than the players do. If they didn't, then they'd be in trouble financially. But I would rather have things the way they are now, where players get their fair share. I just don't want to see owners pad their wallets more than they already do.

The money LeBron makes is not ALL about his performance on the floor. He brings the franchise TONS of money through the amount of fans he attracts to the arena, jersey sales, etc. He brings MUCH more to the table in that regard than say Mo Williams. Therefore, it's fair that he receives MUCH more money than Williams.

 

[ChocoLoco]

Answer: no they do not deserve it as they really do not contribute anything truly important to society. Sports is merely a distraction, and if everyone wasn't so distracted, maybe they would pay more attention to truly important things.

 

[Hawkeyeflood]

Pro baseball players lead the world in Money earned per hours standing around doing nothing.

Well,OK. We are talking about athletes, not politicians.....

 

[hawktransplant]

deserve has nothing to do with it.

 

[tm3308]

Answer: no they do not deserve it as they really do not contribute anything truly important to society. Sports is merely a distraction, and if everyone wasn't so distracted, maybe they would pay more attention to truly important things.

They deserve to make their fair share of the money they generate. Period. Cigarette company CEO's don't contribute anything but cancer to society, yet they rake in the dough too. If you think that athletes don't deserve that much money, then convince the world to stop paying money to watch them.

And while we're at it, get off the soapbox. Yeah, the economy sucks. Iran....nuclear weapons. Got it. North Korea. Yep. What exactly am I supposed to do about those things? Those are more "important" things. But if I can't do anything about it, then I'm not going to worry about it. No point in worrying about things that I have no control over.