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Essays on ethics in sport
Case study in sports ethics
Case study in sports ethics
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Anywhere you look today you can see Mark McGwire hitting a home run, or Kobe Bryant dunking over someone. Every time someone watches television or reads a newspaper these, and many other, athletes can be found. Professional sports are all around us; they're a part of our culture. But, in the last few decades some changes have started to take place. As the popularity of professional athletics has increased, so has the cost to render them and their players' salaries. Many of the contracts signed today are for millions of dollars. This is unreasonably exorbitant for doing something gaiety. These days sports are centered around money and not focused on the love for the game and entertaining the fans.
Some economists argue the point that major league sports, their products, players, and stadiums endow millions of dollars to our economy. This is true, but the 'fine print'; that goes along with it is often overlooked. Stadiums, for example, cost millions of dollars to build, maintain, etc. The funds to do this are provided by the tax paying citizens of that city. Many teams then, in return, relocate to other cities in search of more money and better facilities. This is no way to reward fans for years of loyal support. There are many programs, scholarships, foundations, etc. formed by many players and organizations though. These are good ways to give back to the communities that sustain them and use their grand salaries in a nice, resourceful manner.
Now the major appeal of playing in the 'big leagues'; is landing big contracts and getting endorsements; instead of a higher, superior level of competition. A prime example of this is Elton Brand, who bypassed his junior and senior year at Duke to go directly to the NBA. Another athlete looking for a big paycheck is Kevin Brown, who recently signed a $105 million dollar contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers. This is an outrageous remuneration for someone that plays a game. Not only are athletes overpaid, many ignore the rules of etiquette that come along with being in the major leagues.
The focus of professional sports has evolved from one of teamwork and camaraderie to one of avarice and greed. The specific problems in recent years that have stemmed off this overwhelming greed include exorbitant salaries, lockouts (or work stoppages) in professional sports, and the growing disparity among team payrolls. Most recognize these issues as major problems; however, others overlook the greed and see validity in the financial aspect of today's sports world. They argue that professional sports are thriving and should not be modified.
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...
Ever watched ESPN and seen a report about a baseball player signing a five year contract worth 150 million dollars? Now, with a little math, one would come to realize that that contract means that baseball player will make a bit less than 30 million dollars in that five year period. That is ridiculous. Why do professional baseball players as well as professional athletes in general make so much money just to play a game that little kids play to stay out of trouble? It is because people pay them to play, athletes unions that, for a large part, are used to force team owners to pay them such a high salary, and businesses pay them to advertise their products.
Therefore, all of the players are employees of the owners and the league. The league and owners are the ones who do all of the advertising, make deals with television stations, sign contracts for licensing, and make it all happen. They are the ones who should be reaping the most financial rewards. In his magazine article, "Held Ball", Phil Taylor, a writer for Sports Illustrated, let us know that with the signing of a new four year, $2.6 billion contract with NBC and Turner Sports, the league seems to have plenty of money. But with figures of about a billion dollars being paid out in player salaries, there is not enough money to pay for all the employees, the arenas, advertising, stadiums, team travel and accommodations, team doctors, trainers, and other things associated with owning a business without once again raising ticket prices for the fans....
Area political leaders, local community heads as well as owners of professional sports franchise sometimes claim that a pro sports stadium and teams are vital sources of positive economic growth in urban areas. Even though most of the stadiums and franchises supposedly donate a whole lot of money for providing new jobs, and to also provide the justification for millions of dollars ranging in the hundreds for public subsidies for the building of an assortment of new pro sports teams in the U.S. over the past ten years. Even with the outrage, some numbers crunchers have found no evidence of a positive economic impact of professional sports teams and facilities on urban economies "It's a zero-sum game," Rolnick said. "In fact, it can be a negative-sum game.”
The first reason that they aren’t overpaid is their career length. While other careers can last over 40 years. While David Ortiz’s career lasted nineteen years.The pay they make is good because they need to use it wisely but, quite a few of the pro athletes don’t spend their money sensibly. Truly some athletes spend too much money on very spendy
Sports are extremely popular around the world and only get more popular as time goes on. Sports is on television (TV), in the news, in the newspaper, and online. It only makes sense that this is the case. A sporting event is the ultimate drama. The variability of a game is what gets people so into it. Sports can tell a story, and teach great life lessons as well as inspire people. If sports are that important to the people around the world who watch it, just think about how important sports are to the ones who actually play it and coach it. It is their passion, their persona, their life. With the media’s harsh expectations of teams today, unless a team wins a championship, they are deemed unsuccessful. Since expectations are so high, everyone wants to compete to be the best. If a team wants a chance to compete, they have to have the best players, or the best cohesive combination of players. In professional sports, this is an easy fix. In professional sports, athletes are paid to play and therefore are marketable. To get players, teams can sign players to contracts, there are drafts, or teams can trade with other teams. So, professional sports teams can buy good players, where in college it is not so easy.
One of the many positives externalities that professional sports teams can generate is increasing the city’s revenue. With a city having a professional sports team, the people that
The controversy of athletes being overpaid dates back to 1922, when well-known baseball player George “Babe” Ruth received $50,000 within the first year of his career. Ruth’s extensive wealth was bolstered by dozens of endorsements (Saperecom). As it is shown in figure 1, in the Fortunate 50 Tiger Woods takes the number one spot for highest paid athlete. Tiger’s salary for 2011 is $2,294,116 and like Babe Ruth, his endorsements exceed his salary earning $60,000,000 making his total $62,294,116 (Freedman). It’s crazy to think that 89 years ago professional athletes scarcely made more than the average person today. This is of course not counting the inflation that has occurred since the years which Babe Ruth played baseball.
The money given to the athletes could be used for more probable causes. Recently Alex Rodriguez of the Texas Rangers signed a contract for 252 million dollars over a span of 10 years. This is enough money to feed the nation's poor for a year or to provide a lot more housing and shelters for the homeless. Others could benefit from the millions being wasted on these athletes. Not because the players don’t earn the money but because it could just be better spent on more important issues in our communities.
Sports are one of the most profitable industries in the world. Everyone wants to get their hands on a piece of the action. Those individuals and industries that spend hundreds of millions of dollars on these sports teams are hoping to make a profit, but it may be an indirect profit. It could be a profit for the sports club, or it could be a promotion for another organization (i.e. Rupert Murdoch, FOX). The economics involved with sports have drastically changed over the last ten years.
This past weekend marks the largest contract signing in Major League Baseball history. On the 12th of February 2000, Ken Griffey Jr. (formerly of the Seattle Mariners), signed a nine-year $116.5 million contract with his hometown Cincinnati Reds. The city’s fans were ecstatic to bring Griffey back, and considering he turned down an eight-year $148 million deal to re-sign with Seattle, they feel that the acquisition was a real bargain. It really is amazing when a man can make $12.94 million a year, simply for playing the game of baseball and millions upon millions of people are calling it a bargain. Salaries in sports are incredibly sensitive and controversial issues. There are many die-hard fans that believe high-profile athletes are worth each and every cent their contract gives them, however most people believe otherwise; I am one of them. What exactly is it that athletes do that makes them deserving of such high salaries? The real issue at hand here, is that the more money athletes are making, the more fans are going to have to pay to see them in person. Is there really a win-win situation here?
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.
One issue that these high salaries cause is that having all this money spoils the athletes. Athletes buy so much unnecessary stuff after they get their money. For example, Michael Jordan has about 28 cars. Who needs all these cars? He didn’t buy all of these, but there is a certain limit on how many cars a person needs. Athletes spend their money on cars, entertainment, clothes, and their big mansions. Another instance of athletes spoiling themselves is the use of illegal drugs (“Pro Salaries”). Michael Irvin of the Dallas Cowboys has been involved in many of these altercations. He has been through all the punishments there possibly is and still makes his money (“Pro Salaries”). Athletes think they are at a higher level and that they can do whatever they want. An issue that everyone hears about everyday that a pro athlete has committed a murder/crime. Ray Lewis, a safety for the Baltimore Ravens, is being tried for two accounts of murder. He is an excellent athlete. He is on the pro-bowl team for the 1999 season and led the league in tackles. He has just ruined his career by even being involved in a situation like this. Another player is Robert Lewis, a 20 year-old basketball player from the Dallas Mavericks. He was convicted of beating his girlfriend almost to death. A 20-year-old basketball star doesn’t need to feel that he is a king to be a leader. What kind of role model is he setting to other youngsters that want to follow in the same footsteps?
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 professionals.