Is it fair that Sport Althletes get paid Millions?

In a word yes.

Reasoning, athletes in general give positive role models, they work harder for far less money than any actor ever has, what they do is not self serving at all but rather a service to the community as a whole, when a team has a great season the entire region has a common experience that tends to bring people together, professional sports are also a huge part of our nation's economy, and people in general love and respect competition.

No, they shouldnt be paid that much. No persons salary in entertainment should ever exceed2 million MAX, and that person better be something special.plague32390

No salary in general should surpass 2 million dollars. Is an athlete making 11 million dollars a year really so very different from a cigarette company CEO making 25 million dollars a year? Who really needs more than a hundred thousand dollars a year to live a comfortable life? The answer is no one, since the vast majority of people in this country lead comfortable lives on less than that amount.

But this is what happens in capitalism. You have people like Henry Kravis who make billions in what amounts to glorified gambling, or people getting paid millions of dollars a year to produce entertainment of limited quality but great marketability, and then you have real contributors to society - doctors, teachers, police officers, and so forth - being paid beans by comparison. It's all about how many people will pay a certain amount for a certain product. Athletes can entertain thousands of people at a time. A doctor can only deal with one patient at a time.

I don't really care that they get paid a lot. It just makes me angry when they whine and go on strike because they apparently aren't getting paid enough to play a game.reddevilyi

That's pretty much how I feel too. Or when they refuse to sign a contract because it offers only 5.2 million dollars a year instead of 5.5 million dollars a year.

I think it's ridiculous that athletes / actors get paid millions per year / movie. Even if they have shorter careers like someone before me mentioned, they still make more than enough money in 1 year that wouldlast anyone else a lifetime. I think a lot of useful things could be done with that money. Come on, who NEEDS 50 million bucks?!dayzee23

who needs cars, tv, internet, video games, tv, indoor plumbing? COME ON WHAT A WASTE OF MONEY! your argument is flawed...

Sure it's fair. It's much easier to become a teacher than to become a pro athlete. Most of the 50,000 people I attend college with could be teachers, and if you've been to college you know that you already have student TA's who are already capable of teaching your college courses. While on the otherhand, only a handful of students from my school will becomes pro basketball or pro football players.Orlando_Magic

Athletes get paid a great deal because people are willing to pay a great deal to see them. That does not mean that their athletic talents are more important to society than are the intellectual and social talents of fine instructors. There are far more teachers than there are athletes by necessity. It's a supply and demand thing. If only the very finest teachers were allowed to teach, we'd have a severe shortage of teachers, and they'd be payed a huge premium for their services because of the limited supply.

It's not a matter of whether a person is capable of performing a task, but rather a matter of how many people are capable of performing a task exceptionally, and whether or not society can afford to pay only those who can do it exceptionally. Lots of people can play football, but not many can do it exceptionally. Lots of people can teach, but not many can do it exceptionally. Society can do without football players, but it can't do without teachers. And so, we increase the supply of teachers (and thus reduce their salaries) by admitting people who would be turned away if the same rigid demands were made on teachers as are made on professional athletes.

Don't belittle the skill of teachers. Sure, most of the 50 000 people you attended college with could be teachers. How many could be exceptional teachers?

There's also the issue of numbers to be addressed. A professional athlete can adequately address the entertainment needs of thousands of people at a time, many of whom are willing to pay hundreds of dollars for a few hours of entertainment. A teacher can only adequately address the needs of 20-30 (or perhaps a couple hundred in a very large university lecture class) people at a time, very few of whom would be willing to pay hundreds of dollars for a few hours of instruction. But education is more vital to society than is entertainment. The numbers alone are involved in the salaries, but they do not dictate relative worth. If they did, one could say that Henry Kravis's 'restructuring' of businesses is 5000 times more important to society than is the job performed by an experienced teacher.

[QUOTE="Orlando_Magic"]Sure it's fair. It's much easier to become a teacher than to become a pro athlete. Most of the 50,000 people I attend college with could be teachers, and if you've been to college you know that you already have student TA's who are already capable of teaching your college courses. While on the otherhand, only a handful of students from my school will becomes pro basketball or pro football players.pianist

Athletes get paid a great deal because people are willing to pay a great deal to see them. That does not mean that their athletic talents are more important to society than are the intellectual and social talents of fine instructors. There are far more teachers than there are athletes by necessity. It's a supply and demand thing. If only the very finest teachers were allowed to teach, we'd have a severe shortage of teachers, and they'd be payed a huge premium for their services because of the limited supply.

It's not a matter of whether a person is capable of performing a task, but rather a matter of how many people are capable of performing a task exceptionally, and whether or not society can afford to pay only those who can do it exceptionally. Lots of people can play football, but not many can do it exceptionally. Lots of people can teach, but not many can do it exceptionally. Society can do without football players, but it can't do without teachers. And so, we increase the supply of teachers (and thus reduce their salaries) by admitting people who would be turned away if the same rigid demands were made on teachers as are made on professional athletes.

Don't belittle the skill of teachers. Sure, most of the 50 000 people you attended college with could be teachers. How many could be exceptional teachers?

..one of the few posts in here that actually makes sense...

I dont think its fair to see people hit a ball or dunk it and get paid 11 million just for that while many people work hard all their lives that they might not even reach the 1 million mark. To see players that havent even went to HS and College and get paid a ton, i find something really wrong with that. Tjeremiah1988

So, the team owners, should keep most of the money themselves. I guess the public pay to go see the owners.

Well its either the athletes making millions, or the owners of these franchises making a that million they pay the atheletes added to the billions they already make.mrgab

The owners aren't always doing as well as everyone thinks they do. That's why teams end up re-locating or switching hands. For instance, in the NHL prior to the lock-out, players were taking more than 3/4 of the total team income on an annual basis - and that's before any of the facility rental, travel, or other personnel costs are taken into account.

[QUOTE="mrgab"]Well its either the athletes making millions, or the owners of these franchises making a that million they pay the atheletes added to the billions they already make.pianist

The owners aren't always doing as well as everyone thinks they do. That's why teams end up re-locating or switching hands. For instacne, in the NHL prior to the lock-out, players were taking more than 3/4 of the total team income on an annual basis - and that's before any of the facility rental, travel, or other personnel costs are taken into account.

NHL does have its financial problems in the US in some cities as there are probaly too many teams in areas where hockey isnt a popular.

Thinking of baseball, where some teams arent making as much as others, they still are making good amounts. Even though they show they are losing, that is a way to get simpathy from the fanbase to see the team, build them a new stadium(instead of the owners paying for it all). No sympathy for either the players or owners in terms of making money.

They do a lot of really hard stuff but I still dont think they should get paid as much as they do. Maybe deduct a few million off.

Who cares? Are any of us negatively impacted by athletes receiving large salaries?

Well good luck convincing the rest of society to stop caring about sports.

I'm not a fan of sports entertainment myself, but many many people are, and their devotion to it is paying those wages however outrageous they may be. It's a free market, and those high salaries are being supported through admission, merchandise, and ad dollars.

When guys like Arod are getting 20 million + per year and are still whining, then I might get pissed. Renegade_Fury

A-Rod isn't whining, he even admitted making a mistake by opting out. I think you just had a dream that he would come to the Giants with Bonds contract out of the way.

Yes it's fair. Basic business practices. We pay to see the athletes, money goes to the sponsors and owners, it trickles down to the players. It's not like it's tax money that's going to the athletes. It's our own disposable income.

If I could just take over...hollywood would be our international cemetary, and all of these 'athlete's' wages would be cut severely and used to pay for important things.Messer_Partei

So you would force the owners, who pay the athletes' salary after the people pay to see the stars, to hand over their money for something else?

Um they were given amazing gifts and people want to see those gifts. The way you think of it, smart people shouldnt be paid lots of money to do jobs because they were already smart and didn't need to work all that much. And also before you make dumb statements like "sports players don't have to work hard" you should learn how many hours of practice each of those athletes has put in.Matts07

how about a big heaping bowl of shut the **** up? :evil:

im sorry, but im just pissed off that finals are coming.i just want to say that your arguement phailz. just because someone is "gifted" it does not mean that they do not have to work hard to succeed. that whole concept can only be easily applied to elementary/middle school where everything is "spoonfed" to you. my first semester in high school is almost finished and i am gonna leave barely passing chemistry honors (this class is usually taken by juniors where i live(arizona)). did i work hard? im pretty sure i did not put 100% into it, but i spent a lot of extra time for this class. true success come from hard work, and that something i learned firsthand from this class.

This is a very thought-provoking thread :) Lots of great replies.

This is a very thought-provoking thread :) Lots of great replies.

shrink45

so lets continue?

Well, it's perfectly fair - they're being paid what they are 'worth' to society, because society is obviously paying enough to allow for their fat salaries. The real question here is "should society place so much worth on athletic entertainment?"pianist

i find athletics to be boring. I don't mind playing them myself, but watchign them on tv and such is just plain boring. I think it is bs how a teacher has to actually go to college (nad pay a pretty big chunk of money), while an athlete just has to coast on by an wait. Not to mention the fact that teachers don't even really get paid that well. I believe entertainment to be important, but to pay people THAT much money is just absurd. Creative people, like the makers of Deus Ex (warren spector?) don't even get paid that much. .

Well, if people stopped caring that people could dunk the balls they wouldnt get paid as much, and if they didnt get paid all that money the owners would get it, all in all the money could be going somewhere far worseGonzerg

you're taking about it going to the drugs they buy ir what??? you cna always say "well, it cna be worse.", but the fact is that there is something wrong with a teacher getting paid MUCH less than an athlete. Just think of it, where would our socity be without teachers???

I think it's fair. The constant media attention, the severe injuries they risk getting everytime they play. I think it's quite fair.bluezy

it's the way the KNEW their life would be, not like they were being tricked into doing that. Also, if you want to "compensate for severe injury" then why don't they do that for construction workers where you can die if you don't pay attention???

well one of teh arguements is taht they have shorter careers so need to earn more to support themselves for the rest of their lives. this arguement doesnt hold true to some players though.muppet1010

no one NEEDS that much money to "hold them over" for the rest of their life...........

In a word yes.

Reasoning, athletes in general give positive role models, they work harder for far less money than any actor ever has, what they do is not self serving at all but rather a service to the community as a whole, when a team has a great season the entire region has a common experience that tends to bring people together, professional sports are also a huge part of our nation's economy, and people in general love and respect competition.

Second_Rook

how is it not self serviing when they're paid to perform??? Also, it takes a lot of talent to be a good actor, not like you can just pull it out of your ass. have you seen the movies (if you'd even call them that) with people like 50 cent??? I suggest you never do.Also, you seem to forget the fact that it takes YEARS and a **** of money to make a movie. How often to athletes need to memorize pages and pages of script, movments for certain scenes and emotion. You do realize they get up VERY early in the morning and don't have it nearly as easy as you make it to be.

Sure it's fair. It's much easier to become a teacher than to become a pro athlete. Most of the 50,000 people I attend college with could be teachers, and if you've been to college you know that you already have student TA's who are already capable of teaching your college courses. While on the otherhand, only a handful of students from my school will becomes pro basketball or pro football players.Orlando_Magic

I'll use a diff example other than a teacher, let use say a programmer or texture artist. Let's say these people are working on a game (which takes YEARS to complete and bugets now rival that of movies). Sometimes they even LIVE at the office when they are nearing a deadline. Take a look at the game Heavenly Sword and tell me that making the visuals in the game look that good. Imagine how much knowledge and practice that takes, now lets take into consideration that these people don't even make in the millions. Both things require you to be educated (one a more literal and longer education), have lots of experience and both are forms of mass entertinament. WHy should one get paid more than the other???

I think it's ridiculous that athletes / actors get paid millions per year / movie. Even if they have shorter careers like someone before me mentioned, they still make more than enough money in 1 year that wouldlast anyone else a lifetime. I think a lot of useful things could be done with that money. Come on, who NEEDS 50 million bucks?!dayzee23

Actors don't have short careers, have you seen how old that guy in the first harry potter move is, take a guess at how old gandulf might be. Robert Dinero,

[QUOTE="dayzee23"]I think it's ridiculous that athletes / actors get paid millions per year / movie. Even if they have shorter careers like someone before me mentioned, they still make more than enough money in 1 year that wouldlast anyone else a lifetime. I think a lot of useful things could be done with that money. Come on, who NEEDS 50 million bucks?!GerrywithaG15

who needs cars, tv, internet, video games, tv, indoor plumbing? COME ON WHAT A WASTE OF MONEY! your argument is flawed...

people who make video games dont make near as much as pro athletes..............

Well, it's perfectly fair - they're being paid what they are 'worth' to society, because society is obviously paying enough to allow for their fat salaries. The real question here is "should society place so much worth on athletic entertainment?"pianist

couldn't have said it better myself