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Essay on income inequality between countries
Professional athlete salary
Impact of modern entertainment on society
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Professional athletes earn outrageous sums of money for playing sports. The highest paid player for the Chicago Cubs player made $19 million in 2012. This is over 350 times the median American income, which sits at a respectable $54,000. Even high paying jobs, such as doctors and lawyers, make fractions of this amount of money every year. Professional athletes and other entertainers should not be payed these ridiculous sums of money because sports don’t require extensive education, athletes don’t need that much money to live, and more important jobs earn far less income. One reason professional athletes shouldn’t make as much money as they do is because playing sports requires little to no high education. Many jobs require lots of education, …show more content…
There are many jobs that are vital to society, such as being a bus driver, teacher, fire fighter, doctor, or member of the Armed Forces. Without people who perform these jobs, society wouldn’t be able to function well because these important jobs would have no one to do them. It would make sense for these jobs to get higher pay than most other jobs since they are so crucial; however, this is not the case. Some of these jobs do not receive very high pay, with bus drivers and teachers in particular not being paid that well. At the same time, pro athletes earn income in the millions of dollars annually. As much entertainment as these athletes provide us, playing sports is not crucial and is not helping to push society forwards at all. It’s unfair to the people working the important jobs for athletes to make so much money by just playing games. Many would argue that athletes deserve to make this much money because many athletes’ careers do not last that long, while teachers and doctors can work their whole lives. This means that athletes should make more money while they’re getting paid so they can support themselves for the rest of their lives after their careers. However, this isn’t true because athletes can still do other jobs after they retire from sports. It almost makes it worse that, because they make so much money,
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
Isn't it amazing how one little controversial question can cause so much drama? Take the NCAA for instance. Within recent years the question of weather NCAA athletes should be paid or not has arisen and caused them some unwanted attention. Many coaches and sports enthusiast have been interviewed on their opinion. “Students are not professional athletes who are paid salaries and incentives for a career in sports. They are students receiving access to a college education through their participation in sports, for which they earn scholarships to pay tuition, fees, room and board, and other allowable expenses,” (Mitchell). “There has been major discussion recently if college athletes should or shouldn't be paid while they are in school. The first thing opponents say is, "They're already getting a scholarship! That is more than anybody else! Don't be greedy!”(Hartnett). These are just two men’s opinions, but no one needs to give his or her opinion any longer. The answer to this question is unmistakably clear. NCAA athletes do not need to be paid because they get to go to college for free, their living expenses are paid for, and there would not be a fair way to choose which teams are paid and which are not.
Should professional athletes earn millions of dollars for playing a game? Athletes should not be making millions and millions of dollars while more important jobs earn significantly less. There are doctors who save lives daily and they do not even make a tenth of what some athletes make. It is crazy to believe that someone is really worth hundreds of millions of dollars, and all they have to do is play a sport; a sport that millions of people would play for free if given the chance.
Every day, people around the world complain about professional athletes salaries. Even though the top athletes make millions of dollars every year, the majority of athletes do not make any more than the average working class citizen. There are also many risks along with the job, and job security is very unstable. Expenses and taxes also limit the amount of money an athlete makes. Tax rates are extremely high for the men and women who participate in professional sports.
Critics often argue that some people don’t think any athlete is worth that much money. Admittedly, it is a lot of money. However, they deserve it because of all of the work they put in. For example, Ronald Blum from earlier in the speech, illustrates, “In a $9 billion industry propelled by ballpark luxury suites and premium tickets, regional sports networks and streaming video, more than half the major leaguers are millionaires.” What Blum is saying is that the money they earn is made by themselves and by how many people go to their games. Linn-Benton Community College adds, “I agree that people that make the biggest difference in this world should be paid more. Job titles from Bhagat's list included police officers, firefighters, doctors, and teachers. Yes, all of these occupations greatly improve our well being and our society as a whole, but is it the professional athlete's fault that these occupations are not paid what they are deserved? Does the fact that teachers, police officers, and firefighters are underpaid have any connection to professional sports at all? No, not in the slightest bit.” Linn-Benton’s point is that sports do not take any money away from other jobs. Ronald Blum also notes, “Most athletes’ money is self-earned.” Blum is suggesting that that athletes’
College athletes are not paid, yet they generate a great deal of money for the school, which is unfair. College athletes have to spend less time on their school work. Schools take advantage of them to make money. Colleges don’t care what the athlete does outside of sports. Many of them earn meaningless degrees because most of their time is spent on sports instead of school. The time spent on sports is more than the time spent on their school work. Playing sports in college is like a full time job. They spend a huge amount of their time training: lifting weights and watching their diets. It is unfair that college athletes are not getting paid because they spend most of their time on sports, they risk injury, and they have high dropout rates due to frustration.
The amount of time and effort athletes devote to becoming the best in their league is remarkable. Athletic programs begin at very young ages and grow from there. Some athletes grow tired of playing sports and quit, while others have the dream of making it to the major leagues. These athletes continue to work hard and grow stronger as they strive to achieve their goal. They make it all the way to high school sports and then work hard enough to hopefully receive an athletic scholarship to the school of their dreams. In college sports, the controversial question is “Should college athletes be paid to play?” and the answer is no. College athletes should not be paid to play because these athletes are also students, they are not professionals, and
In closing, these athletes are making too much money in a society that traditionally bases salaries on the value of ones work. These athletes do not know what real work is or how hard it is to make a dollar. Although their job is difficult, they do not play a role in our economy like their salaries indicate. Therefore, they should receive less money.
In another article by the Denver Post, it states, “...about 98 percent of the college students who play football or basketball will go pro in something other than sports.” (Thompson and Burnett). Since so many athletes prosper in something else, they could focus more on that talent rather than focusing on something that they have no chance of doing for a living. If they are paid, they will not focus on their other talents causing them to miss out on other opportunities. This is a similar idea to college athletes being paid because if they can’t get to the professional leagues they shouldn’t get paid; they just don’t deserve it because the money could go to something else worth paying or fighting for.
Athletes and entertainers are overly paid. Their job is to just entertain the public, whereas other jobs in our country contribute to our society and freedom. Baseball players are putting on a chest plate to protect themselves from a baseball. Police are putting on a fireproof chest plate to be protected from bullets. Singers hold a microphone so everyone can hear their voice. Surgeons hold tools to do a heart transplant to save someone's life. Athletes wake up early to practice for a game. Teachers wake up early to prepare their day to teach those who are the future of our country. Athletes put on a uniform to show others who they are and to be recognized from others. Firefighters and soldiers put on a uniform to honor our country, risking
Now these guys are making less than an average citizen. Let alone less than an Athlete who is still an average citizen with a big name and outrageous high pay. Now military officers on
As entertainers, athletes are paid for fan satisfaction. The more fans that want to see an athlete perform, the more the athlete is paid. In fact, most athletes, even those who make millions of dollars for each flubbed fly ball, dropped pass, and missed free throw, feel they probably deserve even higher salaries; the reason being that they’re still in demand. While certain athletes may never bring a championship ring to their team, or even bring home a winning season, those athletes will always pack the stands. Fans in the stands translate into ticket sales. Ticket sales can potentially lead to national television broadcasts. Inevitably, the formula of ticket sales plus national television broadcasts leads to massive revenue, and this is how owners and organizations can afford to pay players like Michael Jordan $25 Million for his retiring season alone. However, how does society (as a whole) benefit from these over-inflated salaries? In short, it doesn’t.
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.
Many players have risen to stardom by becoming a professional athlete. Athletes have come from many different backgrounds; some from wealthy and some from poverty raised backgrounds. Salaries are continuing to rise, and money doesn’t seem to be an issue. Athletes are getting what they want from the owners by negotiating through their agents. Athletes’ salaries aren’t from their owners, but they come from other sources (“Athletes’ Salary”). Athletes get paid an extremely high salary for the work they do, and should consider the value of their work. They do not deserve the extreme amount they get paid and something should by done about it.
Sport has always entertained and influenced our lives. It creates dreams for children and goals for adults. However, many fans are oblivious to the millions they pocket each year. It is without doubt that our sports stars are grossly overpaid. Their annual earnings exceed those we make in a lifetime, even when compared to highly qualified professions. Despite the money factor, we sometimes question the values that are emphasized.