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The economic importance of sport
Famous sports players and their salaries
The economic importance of sport
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The average MLB player makes $1.5 millions per year (Bliss). There are a lot of opinions on whether athletes and actors are overpaid. Many feel they don’t deserve what they make and others feel they are well worth the millions they get. On average the better players of the MLB get between $two million and $twenty million a year (DeBlieux). Are they really worth that much? Many people think actors and athletes deserve their pay that they get because they entertain people and bring more money into the economy; however, there are other jobs that are way underpaid, police and firefighters, who risk their own lives for complete strangers and make very little when compared to an athlete or an actor.
There are some athletes who some think are worth the money they make every year. The top three are Michael Jordan, Wayne Gretzky, and Barry Bonds. These three try as hard as they can to make their team win the game. They all have helped their teams win championships and special titles. Michael Jordan is trying to get the Bulls third consecutive NBA title. The second is Wayne Gretzky, who after a very terrible injury, managed to bring his team a win in their sixth semifinal game. According to “Sports of the times; Overrated? Overpaid? Not these three”, Wayne Gretzky “was on 4 Stanley cup championship teams” (Anderson). The last of the three athletes is Barry Bonds, who signed the largest contract in baseball history at the time. The contract was worth 43.75 million over six years. He was signed this with a .394 batting average, a .771 slugging average, and a .509 on-base average. Million for million, each is a bigger bargain than any item in an outlet store (Anderson). Sports needs these three athletes and many more like them to help show no...
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...e else wrote. But most importantly, they feel that all that money they get could be put to better use by paying the military more, paying our teachers more, and by paying our public services more. The average MLB player makes 1.5 million (Bliss), now cut that down to 100 thousand. Now put the 1.4 million into schools funding and increase the teachers pay, put it into soldiers pay, and put it into the public services pay. So what does this do? Now suddenly you have more teachers to help the children prepare for their bright future, more people wanting to join the military, more police officers to keep the cities safer, and more firefighters to help stop more fires, whether they’re in the woods or in the town.Athletes still make enough money to live on and then some and the economy will start to recover much faster. It wouldn’t be long until America was really America.
When asked “Are elite sports people overpaid?” people have varied responses. Some people would agree with this and say ‘why should a person that hits or kicks a ball be paid as much as someone who saves lives or teaches children everyday? But on the other hand some would disagree and say that sports people are paid for their skills just like everybody else! These are both very good arguments.
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.
Many people in today’s world complain about how much Pro Athletes get pay. So I ask are Pro athletes overpaid? Look at it in this sense; they are living their dreams just like most business men do everyday. If you think that professional sports is not a job then just try to walk in the shoes of a athlete for a day. Sports, like medicine, healthcare, or software, are a business. In that business, owners pay their players what they deem they are worth.
Twenty-five million dollars made per year. Over one hundred fifty-four thousand dollars made per game. Over forty-seven thousand dollars earned per at bat. Sounds a little ridiculous, does it not? That is what current Texas Ranger shortstop Alex Rodriguez earns to play the game of baseball (azcentral.com). Baseball is a game that children have been playing in schoolyards and fields for the past one hundred years. It may not be a game anymore. On the Major League level it has become a business. This is where the problem starts.
Professional sports were beginning to be organized in the 1850s. At this point, their salaries, although they were still higher than the average person’s, were not too outrageous. In the 1880s and 90s, baseball players in particular were making on average about $1,750 annually. Even though this was three times the salary of an industrial worker of the time, they were not happy with this amount of money and felt they should be earning more (Baseball n.d.). In the 1970s, the worlds of professional sports took a drastic turn. According to an article by J.L. Carnagie, “Two words described sports in the 1970s: big business. Owners and athletes in major professional team sports knew there was money to be made in their games, and they went after it.” (Carnagie, n.d.) Athletes, especially, realized how competitive teams were becoming, and they were well aware that talent was in high demand. In the beginning of 1980s, the best athletes were demanding even more money; and the majority of the time, they got what they wanted. By end of the 1980s, many athletes were making over a million dollars (Carnagie, n.d.) These increasing salaries were very ironic because when professional sports began they were intended to be a showcase of players’ talent and athletic ability. Professional sports leagues were also supposed to be similar to the Olympics in that they would be free of politics and influence of society. However, by the 80s, they had become all about the star athletes and how much money they could make. By this point, professional sports had evolved into an industry that was focused on entertainment and money, rather than the sports actually being played (Carnagie, n.d.).
For years, baseball players has always been the highest paid athletes out of any of the major sports. It is also the oldest sport around and many of the athletes have been practicing their profession ever since they were kids. Some argue should baseball have a salary cap like other major sports but it is only right that they get paid very well, due to the time and effort that is put into their craft. After all it’s a risky sport, yet very entertaining.
4.7 million dollars. This represents about 84 times more than an average person makes in their life. Yet, this can also mean something else. One person can make this and could do it in a year. That’s how much one rookie from the NBA makes in a single season! They just shoot balls into hoops, and game after game, they defend it from the opponents net. They don’t save people on a daily basis, they don’t work their whole life for the minimum, and instead, they don’t use their money wisely. This is not right. Athletes are overpaid and people have had enough.
Peyton Manning makes over 18 million dollars in a single year for going out in the public eye and playing a simple sport for the amusement of others. That’s more than most people can make in a lifetime. Should we really be paying Peyton Manning 18 million to play a 16 game season, when others are barely making $17,000 to support themselves? That is isn’t practical or fair at all considering a firefighter makes an average of $43,000 a year. Yes, that number is true. A man who goes out and risks his life on a daily basis to protect others makes a significantly less salary than a pro athlete that entertains the masses. We are just barely scratching the surface of this dilemma. Alex Rodriguez earned $33 million dollars last year in Major League Baseball. How could someone ever spend $33 million on himself? It’s crazy to think America puts most of its attention and money into entertainment, when people are homeless, starving, or living on welfare. But as long as LeBron James can spend $3,000 on a suit and tie he’ll probably wear once and play head to head against other athletes, are satisfied. There’s a lot of money being circulated between giant franchises in the sports world, but honestly how much do you really need to be paid to live a comfortable, sustainable life.
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’
“The minimum wage in major league baseball is almost four hundred thousand, more than half the players make one million or more. New York Yankees' third baseman Alex Rodriguez takes in twenty five million — some five hundred times what a teacher or a cop or a paramedic makes.” (Caitlin Johnson). As you can see, MLB players are paid a large amount of money regardless of their skill level, and the higher the quality of the player, the more he is paid.
For some athletes money is not an issue. Many, including Griffey and Jay Buhner, defer portions of their salaries to make room for other players the team needs to win. Others, just willingly get paid less than market value for the same reason. As generous as these players are, some still argue professional athletes are selfish and greedy, when that is not the case at all. Multi-million dollar athletes deserve every cent they get paid.
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.
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.
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.
What comes to mind if someone mentions entertainer or an athlete? People think of their lavish lifestyle, and their salaries are excessive. Many say that athletes and entertainers live in a care free world by all the money they make and that their job isn’t that hard to do. Although some people say that people who contribute to the society don’t make money like entertainers and athletes do, because of all the extravagant amount of money they make, the consumers would have to pay more. I feel that entertainers and athletes should be making their high salaries because they put in hard work to get to that point, freely donate to charities, and society aids their high wages.