Do Sport Athletes Get Paid 2 Much?

[redwagonskins]

Originally Posted by BrunellMVP?

Excellent points- firmly agree. Except its not really out of Synder's pocket, its ours...

To an extent. Our money goes into his pocket. What he does with it is his choice. DS tends to be on the "generous" side with his cash but many other owners run nickel and dime organizations. The Bills, Jets, and Chiefs tend to be on the lower side of the payroll curve. For even better examples, take a look at MLB where some organizations have close to or over $200 million and payroll (NY, BOS) and others hover near the $30 million mark (FLA, TB). It's all a matter of economics and what the owner is willing to sacrifice out of his/her own profit.

As an aside, I wonder if DS cut payroll in half and fielded a mediocre team (think 8-8 range) year after year, how long it would take for fans to stop paying in and there be a real effect on the bottom line. My guess is that it would take nearly 10 years before it started to hurt him in the wallet. I may fault DS for a lot of things, but being cheap isn't one of them.

[hagams]

Maybe they do, maybe they don't. I know I couldn't go out there for 3 years and protect a QB, catch a bunch of deep balls, work my butt of 365 days for 16 weeks of gain. These guys do a lot in the offseason also. Also, take a look at the risks of physical harm.
On the flip side, most of them have college degree's that could earn them so good money, but not what thier making now.

[MTK]

Sure they get paid a ton but they also put a lot at risk. I'm not sure of the exact numbers but the overall life expectancy of a NFL player is much shorter than your average person. They are also more prone to suicide, divorce, obesity, heart problems, depression, etc. Something about crashing into other people at full speed over an extended period of time doesn't do the body good. Go figure.

[SouperMeister]

For years, owners abused players rights before the advent of free agency. With the NFL being the gold standard, franchises are hugely successful businesses today, and the players bring the compelling entertainment value. I have no problem with any man making what the open market will bear.

[coggs]

As a teacher, I definitely have a strong opinion on the matter. Unfotunately, have to go teach in a few minutes and do not have enough time to write a really long rant.

[BDBohnzie]

No. Next questions.

Instead of rehashing, take some of SmootSmack's answer, a little of Daseal's, and a dash of djnemo's, and you have how I feel. Not saying it's fair, but it is what it is...

[chrisl4064]

Entertainers period get paid too much. but thats what people want to see. its all demand.....

nobody wants to go see you sit at your desk and work, and thats why you dont get paid 1.1 mill

[SC Skins Fan]

Originally Posted by Redskin Warrior

I was just reading the "Will NE Resign Moss" thread and saw that Randy was paid 8 million for this year alone. Now whether he got paid that much or not isn't the point of this thread. The point is lately with the various Bengals players, Pacman, Vick & Willie Andrews. Are these huge pay days messing up the minds of the youth & current NFL players? For instance, you turn in a two weeks notice at a job ok lets McDonald's a mininum paying job to take on a $15-20 per hour job for those two weeks most people have the attitude of you can't tell me nothing. Ok lets put that same perspective with sport athletes are the $2-10 million a year salaries corrupting these players & the youths minds? Does the pay days develop that "I'm Larger Than Life Cockiness" & "I'm Rick James Bitch Mentality?" Not to say all sport athletes act like this but you know they say rotten apples spoil the bunch.

The reason I said that is it destroying the youth my nephew is 11 smart kid makes straight A's but he wants to be in the NBA. It's actually possible he is pretty damn good but his mentality is to make millions get woman and do what he wants to do. Well that is a bad mentality for the youth to have and instead of developing his craft and love the game for what it is he only wants to play to make big money. He fill if he plays one year of pro ball he is set for life. It is amazing how many kids think like that across the nation. What do you think? I hope I not gonna be on thread probation for this.

If they get paid too much then you pay too much for tickets, jerseys, etc. Players are the labor, if you want to get mad at someone look to billionaire owners who get major public subsidies in order to finance stadiums, etc. which basically make the whole sports business possible (I'm in the midst of reading a bunch of labor history, by the way, so take that for what it's worth). It just doesn't seem to me that you can sit and consume the entire sports culture (and I consume as much as anyone) and then turn around and complain about the profits generated. Recognize your own part in the entire culture.

[Sheriff Gonna Getcha]

A resounding NO. While professional athletes are paid huge sums of money, on the whole they are not overpaid. Whether we like it or not, us Americans spends billions and billions of dollars each year on pro sports memorabilia, clothing, and tickets and we watch ESPN, the NFL network, and other sports news channels. It's not so much that the players' slices of the pie are large, it's that the pie is so god damned enormous. So, if you think NFL players are overpaid, look in the mirror and ask yourself if you are contributing to those high salaries by spending money that ends up in the hands of the NFL owners and players. The man behind the curtain is not inflating players' salaries, we consumers are.

But even if players are paid too much, should the "excess" cash go to the owners? The owners are not exactly hurting for cash and, while players make millions more now than they did in the 80s, the owners are making tens of millions more. Moreover, the revenue is pretty much evenly divided between the owners and the players. The owners invest the cash in an investment that is virtually risk-free and the players put in the sweat equity in an investment that is full of risks. Sounds like the owners are getting a fair deal to me.

[Skinny Tee]

I used to wait tables and I never got this crazy type of money. People would have never received a hot meal if I decided not to come in to work.

Makes you think how unjust it is. I guess it's all about not having a biased perspective.

Makes you also think whether I'm being sarcastic or not.

[jsarno]

Are professional athletes paid too much, without a doubt YES. They are human just like the rest of us, and those of us doing life changing jobs make a fraction of a fraction of what they get paid. For that reason, they absolutely get paid too much. They bitch and moan about playing a game, when all the while their alternative lifestyle is flipping burgers at McDonalds.
That being said, some here are trying to justify or discredit the fact they make billions of dollars a year overall, but fail to see it is YOU that is doing it. If the going rate for a kid that mows your lawn is $20, and you pay him $1000, is it the kids fault that he is overpaid, or just a happy victim of circumstance? Now if that same kid goes around the neighborhood and says (so and so) is paying me $1000 to mow lawns, well they are gonna have to do better than $20 if they want the services of this kid right? Maybe $40? Well, that is what we have in professional sports. But by now the rates are so damn high, they are beyond comprehension. Of course, some of you are saying "well, go find a hungry kid that will still do it for $20...that's all fine and dandy, but as plenty of pointed out, these leagues (and indirectly the fans) have agents, and unions. The agents sole responsibility is to look out for the client, but they look out for #1. The unions sole responsibility is look out for the players and the respective league, even though they only care about how much money the players get at any cost, even go so far as to not agree with drug testing in certain cases. Of course, I am getting far too deep into this, but first and foremost, if you want to amazing salaries to stop, then look in the mirror. It's not like the government is paying them, it's all of US. It's our fault the players are getting paid millions upon millions, it's our fault the players unions are out of control when they aren't even really needed anymore, it's our fault the agents are money hungry blood suckers. We allow it. There is a really simple way to stop it...stop opening your wallets every 5 seconds to spend on these sports. Otherwise, not only do we have to deal with the high costs, we should expect it.

ps- same can be said for the housing market too. Guess what would happen if everyone stopped paying 500k for a subpar house, the market would crash and the prices would come down.

[Sheriff Gonna Getcha]

Jsarno,

What is the players union not needed? Because the owners are weak? Both the owners and the players form groups to combat the other side. I'm not sure why the players get picked on.

[jsarno]

Originally Posted by Sheriff Gonna Getcha

Jsarno,

What is the players union not needed? Because the owners are weak? Both the owners and the players form groups to combat the other side. I'm not sure why the players get picked on.

Not sure how the players are being picked on...but this conversation is better suited for another thread (or PM) cause it's a deep one that would take over this thread.

[Dogtag]

You get paid what you negotiate, not necessarily what you deserve.

Your perspective is relative: Are you the one paying the big bucks or receiving the big bucks.

I would not mind paying the big bucks if that investment is making me more money than it is costing me.

If I am on the receiving end of the spectrum, then 'Show me the money'.

However, I think what you are really asking here is if we think that these large financial incentives are negatively influencing the value systems of young adult athletes.

While many athletes can and do act responsibly with their newly-gained prosperity there are also many examples recently where athletes have made very bad value-centric life choices. Unfortunately, these are the stories the media loves to expose.

How many times have we heard the theme and its variations ... Money can corrupt people’s lives and values.

[Longtimefan]

I don't know if they get paid too much, but they sure as hell would play for a lot less.