When looking into the history of our culture, there are many subtopics that fall under the word, “history.” Topics such as arts and literature, food, and media fall into place. Among these topics reside sports. Since the beginning of time, sports have persisted as an activity intertwined with the daily life of people. Whether it is a pick-up game of football in the backyard, or catching an evening game at the local stadium, sports have become the national pastime. According to Marcus Jansen of the Sign Post, more specifically, baseball is America’s national pastime, competing with other sports (Jansen 1). Providing the entertainment that Americans pay top dollar for, live the role models, superstars, and celebrities that put on a jersey as their job. As said in an article by Lucas Reilly, Americans spend close to $25.4 billion dollars on professional sports (Reilly 4). The people that many children want to be when they grow up are not the firefighters or astronauts told about in bed time stories. These dream jobs or fantasies have become swinging a bat or tossing a football in front of millions of screaming fans. When asked why so many dream of having such job, the majority will respond with a salary related answer. In today’s day and age, the average athlete is paid more than our own president. The cold hard facts show that in professional sports, the circulation of money is endless. Certain teams in professional baseball and football are worth over millions of dollars. Consequently, the teams who are worth more are able to spend more. The issue that arises with this philosophy is virtually how much more? League managers, team owners and other sports officials have sought out a solution to the surfacing problem. Is it fair to let... ... middle of paper ... ...America's Favorite Pastime . . . or past Its Time?" The Signpost. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 Feb. 2014. Norris, Michele. "Lifting of NFL Salary Cap Examined." Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Alabama Virtual Library, n.d. Web. 2 Jan. 2014. Reilly, Lucas. "By the Numbers: How Americans Spend Their Money." Mental Floss. N.p., 17 July 2012. Web. 04 Feb. 2014. Roberts, Daniel. "The 50 Highest-earning American Athletes - 2013 Fortunate 50 - SI.com." SI.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 Feb. 2014. Staudohar, Paul D. "Salary Caps in Professional Team Sports." Compensation and Working Conditions 3.1 (1998): 3-11. EBSCO Host Connection. Web. 5 Feb. 2014. "Top 100 Biggest Cities." Top 100 Biggest Cities. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 Feb. 2014. Walter, Andrew. "Point: Salary Caps Provide Parity in Professional Sports." Points of View Reference Center. Alabama Virtual Library, n.d. Web. 2 Jan. 2014.
Anyone who has been involved in an organized sport, whether it is backyard football or a high school sports team, knows that these sports all have organizations that are responsible for setting rules, determining conditions of play, and penalizing individuals who infringe the rules. Some of the organizations like the National Football league and the MLB are familiar to most people, the rules they follow are not generally understood by anyone who is not closely associated with the sport. Most fans and sport critics assume that what is happening inside these organizations are of little concern to them. However, this is not the case. In the MLB, the New York Yankees spend an excessive amount of money every year to obtain big name players. A luxury tax was put into effect for teams that go over the spending limit. However, the Yankees are the only team that pays the tax because they are the only team that exceeds the spending limit. The players, coaches, fans, and I have argued that a salary cap would be the best possible way to allow teams in the Major Leagues an equal opportunity getting to the World Series.
A salary cap gives all the teams an equal chance to sign players. It also keeps teams with a lot of money not able to acquire every all-star they want , or any player who is a free agent. Some Major League Baseball teams like the Anahiem Angels and the Atlanta Braves are owned by very wealthy people and companies. The Anaheim Angels are owned by Disney.(Worisnop, 128) So with no surprise the Angels can produce a team which can be very competitive, and have several all-star players. Just recently they exercised this advantage by signing Mo Vaughn for ninety million dollars over seven years.(Antonen, 2) There were at least four other teams that wanted to sign this all-star, but the Angels easily had the money, and outbid everyone who wanted to sign him. If there was a salary cap in Major League Baseball then the Angels would have thought twice about giving that much money to one player. With the its roster for one year. So giving one player 12.8 million dollars for one year does not really make sense if the salary cap is fifty million dollars a year. That would leave only 37.2 million dollars for the twenty-four other players, which equals each player getting on average a little less than one and a half million dollars a year.
How many of you sports fans out there are sick of paying twenty-five dollars for a lousy seat at an NBA game? How many of you are sick of seeing the same teams in the finals every year? I'm sure there are thousands of you out there that feel this way, as do I. The way we can fix these problems is to demand that the NBA enforce a hard salary cap. A hard salary cap would lower ticket prices, allow for more teams to be more competitive and eliminate the possibility of any future lockouts. If the three things listed above aren't met, it's hard to say if the NBA will survive at all. I want to see the NBA survive, but not in the way things are being run now. A hard salary cap is the only way the fans and the players can coexist.
If there’s one thing we dread in the summer more than the heat, it’s the afflicting sentiment that surrounds oneself when one is inhibited from experiencing the thrills of football for six long and gruesome months. National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) football is a part of many Americans’ Saturdays, but to fewer does it mean their lives. Recently coming under debate, many sporting fans and college athletes believe that players should be paid more than just tuition, room, board, and books. Two articles on this issue that bring up valid points worth discussing are Paul Marx’ “Athlete’s New Day” and Warren Hartenstine’s “College Athletes Should Not Be Paid.” From these articles I have found on the basis of logical,
Johnson, Dennis A., and John Acquaviva. "Point/counterpoint: Paying College Athletes."The Sport Journal 15.1 (2012). Questia School. Web. 3 Feb. 2014.
Thomas, Brennan. "Pay for Play: Should College Athletes Be Compensated?." Bleacher Report. TBS, 4 Apr. 2011. Web. 8 Dec. 2013.
Hartnett, T. (2013, October 21). Why College Athletes Should be Paid. The Huffington Post. Retrieved April 26, 2014, from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/tyson-hartnett/college-athletes-should-be-paid_b_4133847.html
Athletes are being paid hundreds of thousands or millions of dollars to entertain us. They work less hours than the average person and make considerably more. Athletes all around the world are paid handsomely because they are talented and have extensive knowledge of their sport. But, is that knowledge and talent really worth what they are earning every season? Compared to some of the most common and needed professions are athletes really earning their paychecks? It’s time to take a deep look into what requirements besides natural ability athletes really need? How many hours are they expected to put in a week and what their job really is.
Salvadore, Damon. "Top 10 Reasons Why College Athletes Should Not Be Paid." Yahoo. Yahoo Sports and News Network, 9 Feb. 2013. Web. 25 Apr. 2014. http://voices.yahoo.com/top-10-reasons-why-college-athletes-not-be-12022203.html
Resnick, Steven. " Are Professionals Athletes Really Overpaid?" Bleacher Report. Bleacher, 28 Mar. 2008. Web.
In 1970, a hotdog costs fifty cents, a pop costs one dollar, a ticket to a NFL game costs fifteen dollars and the average football player made between nine and ten thousand dollars. Jump ahead almost 40 years and a hotdog that cost 25 cents now costs on average five dollars and fifty cents, a pop costs six dollars, a ticket to an NFL game costs 100 dollars and the average player gets paid over two million dollars! Times have changed. Because of all of those price changes, and insignificantly the salary of players, in 1994 the National Football League introduced the first salary cap that allowed owners to spend a certain amount of money on players. The Players Union and the National Football League did this because for one, they were tired of players getting thrown from club to club just being a price and two to make things more equal between the teams. Today, money and fame have made players and owners very greedy and cocky people. Players ask for negotiations when they are making well over a million dollars a year and there are people in the United States that are homeless? That it the biggest reason that the salary cap needs to stay in effect. If the salary cap goes out the window, just like it did this past season, a sports fan can kiss NFL goodbye in ten years from now because there will not be enough money to pay all of the players. There should be a salary cap in the National Football League because it allows organizations to be equal and have a better chance of competing with each other and it may put players in their shoes so they know they can’t have everything they want.
Suggs, Welch. "NCAA Faces Wave Of Criticism Over Crackdown On Payments To Players While In High School." 17 Mar. 2000
Americans believe that athletes, celebrities, and CEOs are the highest paid jobs in America. This belief is true however the average income of these three jobs is nowhere near what the perception is. Athletes are the most confusing when it comes to pay since people do not factor in that an average professional is only 4.85 years, NFL is 3.5 years, MLB is 5.6 years, NBA is 4.8, and NHL is 5.5 years, (RSVLTS, 2013) United States Bureau of Labor Statistics stated that an average income for “athletes and sport competitors” was only $47,710 (BLS, 2017). People believe that athletes are only the stars you see on television, but this is not the case. Athletes are risking their health for that paycheck. They spend a majority of their lives in the gym or on
A young boy goes up to his mother and says, "Mommy! I want to be a baseball player!" If this was said in 1930, the boy's mother probably would have told the boy, "That's not future for you! You need to get a real job and make good money." If this was said in 1999, the boy's mother probably would have said, "Let's go to the store and buy you a baseball glove so you can start to practice." It is visible to every sports fan that in the past few decades, sports has undergone a whole new renovation. It isn't just an activity that is played for fun. It is a business in which owner and players attempt to coincide. It is a business where TV controls fan interest. It is also a business that affects many people's lives, both monetary and living aspects. There are many aspects that are involved with the economics of sport. Each one having unique qualities that adds to the greatest source of entertainment.
In today’s society many will argue whether or not professional athletes are overpaid. In the present time athletes are being paid phenomenally large amounts of money for their entertainment. It is my claim that all professional athletes are overpaid because they do not offer society an essential function that improves or enhances our world in comparison to other professionals such as medical doctors, lawyers, and teachers. Society does not value entertainment enough to warrant such high salaries such as those of many professional athletes. There is no reason that these athletes should demand these tremendous amounts of money. This is why you have to put into question their reasoning for demanding such high salaries.