Increasing Salaries in Sports Throughtout the Ages

One must question if the increasing salaries in sports may have caused players to forget the reasons they began playing in the first place. What happened to the days of playing the game because it was your childhood dream to play at Wrigley Field or Yankee Stadium? The times have changed and so has the entire sports industry. The game has changed from being played on the court or field to being played behind closed office doors or out on the golf course, but are the players all to blame?

From the view point of the fan, the actions and wages of professional athletes, teams, and their owners can be disgruntling to say the least. It is hard for a sports fan to comprehend why the rewards for players are so great even if the achievement is low and the performance of that player or team is poor as well. From the point of view of a businessman though, respect is the only word that comes to mind in relation with these contracts that are signed. Players have learned how to use their ascendancy over owners to exploit a business that has been exploiting players for decades. Athletes were not always paid more than CEOs. In the early years of the National Football League, most players had to have a normal day job on top of playing, because there was no money to be made in professional football (Mueller, 2012). Even when factoring in inflation adjustments and the increased cost of living, players’ salaries are majorly disproportionate from then to now.

The knowledge and cunningness of professional athletes has greatly contributed to many players’ sense of greed, justifiability, and ignorance, and can be astounding. While some may be better able to handle the wealth and celebrity status that comes with being a professional athlete, others cha...

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... that are able to offer this, they can pretty much demand it and get what they want. Teams are made up of various levels of talent and when a team can’t recruit/draft the higher end talent due to salary demand, they lose out. This creates an imbalance and the less profitable organizations suffer because of it. An example could include the Denver Broncos, who have a salary cap of $140 million, compared to the Cleveland Browns, who have a salary cap of $95 million (NFL). Smaller, lesser known teams such as the Browns would never be able to get one of the players the Broncos have or could have. Essentially, lack of money results in lesser talent in a sense. Is it possible to create a more level playing field in the drafting process to give all teams the same opportunity? Should salary caps be the same for all teams, and should all players receive the same base salary?