An Essay on Professionalism in Sport
Sports have professional all over the world. Men who have become proficient in certain games or sports have used their talent as an ostensible means of earning a livelihood. Since sports have got a large spectacular appeal, people are naturally willing to pay for witnessing the exhibition of skill or strength that the sportsman has acquired. The boxer, the wrestler, the cricketer, the footballer certainly have as much right to earn a livelihood by displaying their particular talent as the dancer or the actor may have.
There is nothing inherently wrong in this. All men are not constituted in the same way. Surely a man has as much right to make a living by his brawn as he has by his brains. Professional sportsmen spend much time and labor to acquire proficiency just as members of any other profession do. Hence it is quite legitimate if they try to use their skill to earn a profit. They do not exploit anybody for this purpose. Nor do they sin against the moral sense of mankind. Their income is legitimately earned. People pay willingly and gladly for the joy that they give the recreation that they provide. They have for better right to their earning than those who use their opportunities for enjoying an unearned profit. If that be so, why is the
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But there are certain off shoots which deserve to be condemned. Many sportsmen are driven to practice professionalism in secret because clubs have to maintain an amateur status. This creates underhand practices. It professionalism were recognized openly, this sort of practice would cease to exist. Whatever is driven underground is bad. Amateurism is not to be condemned, but it should not be given a superor status. In india,officially we do not recognize professionalism in any sports, except perhaps in wrestling. This gives rise to many abuses. It drives professional
Furthermore, there are also bad sides to being a pro athlete, so the money is not an easy make. Having all that money, it may be thought that a pro athlete 's life is easy to live with all that money in their pockets. They might say that money can get them out of almost any problem. Even though some athletes get paid large amounts of money, there are a lot of down sides to being a well-known and paid pro. For one, the publicity might be overwhelming, not to mention all the criticism an athlete receives for a poor performance. How would it feel to walk around town having cameras flashing everywhere you go, waiting to catch you at the wrong moments for a photo just to be uploaded for the world to see? Pros have no privacy. Having no privacy means one cannot enjoy life outside of the sport. Having to worry about every move doesn 't seem fair because they also want a life outside of their desired profession. Before criticizing pro athletes and saying they get paid way too much, one should also realize that their lives aren 't so easy. Yes, they have money, but money doesn 't make life easier for these athletes.
Some people play for the money and some play for the passion of it, but the sport can be very cautious and the people that play it are mostly likely mettel. For example: younger kids look up to pro athletes because they dream to be a replica of them someday because they have an enormous passion for it.
Women athletes are often exploited by marketers and advertisers who want to increase their revenues and bottom line sales. Advertisers focus more on the women’s “skin” and sex appeal rather than women’s athletes, leaving the impression that woman are not as talented in the sports as male athletes (Roenigk 1). Many spectators and advertisers do not take female professional sports seriously and think that female athletes play more for fun. Therefore, female athletes do not receive as much attention for their talent. Advertisers exploit women athletes by focusing on their looks and appearances. Advertisers focus on the female athlete’s sex appeal rather than talent (Julius 2). Those who are more talented can be drafted to play professionally where they receive a salary. However, marketers still focus more on male sports. Therefore, increased revenue continues as spectators buy tickets to watch professional male athletes. The female athletes continue to generate revenues from sex appeal and looks over talent. This professional salary in no way compares to the pay received by professional male athletes.
So, as long as there is a demand to fill, marketing companies will continue handing endorsements to professional athletes who therefore become overpaid. “They’re not paid for what they do; they are paid because people want to watch what they do” (Salaam). I like this quote for the reason that it is true, society endorses the attitude to pay athletes to entertain; this is just a reflection of what we value (Salaam).
What an athlete does outside of the complex and facility should be their business not the publics. As long as they are not breaking any state or national laws, then I do not see the harm of any individual trying to make some extra cash. I think it is unethical and unfair for the National Collegiate Athletic Association to punish athletes for trying to add a few dollars to their bank accounts.
Contests in skill, strength and speed have occupied an important place in every culture throughout the ages. The meaning of the term sport and the effect that sport has on society is always changing. Sports have especially changed in the last two decades and can certainly be evidence by the growing number of labor disputes and court cases involving all sports.
Athletes are overpaid by their couches and businesses just for playing in their team’s games and doing commercials. Even after they retire they still make more money than they work for. They are paid millions every year, Shaqeel Oneel made enough money that he could hire builders to make him a full sized basketball court in his basement. Furthermore, Peyton Manning makes about 700 thousand after he retired. Most athletes don’t know how to handle that much money a pro football player bought a Ferrari even though he didn’t know how to drive. Another pro NFL player spent 30 thousand dollars on earrings. Some pro athletes know how to spend money a few athletes invested their money in companies. Other athletes donated to charities and other organizations. Few athletes do
To understand the role ethics plays in sport & competition. It is important to make distinction between gamesmanship & sportsmanship.
E-Sport athletes make money going to tournaments playing video games. E-Sports are on the rise. Call of Duty was actually added to the X-Games back in 2014 and still is part of the major event today. Games like Call of Duty, League of Legends, Counter-Strike Global Offencive, and Halo 5 are a few of the games that have tournaments for millions of dollars in prize money around the world. There are many individuals in this sport that can make a good living from just looking at a screen for hours on end. Optic Nadeshot or Matthew Haag, a very skilled player in the Call of Duty community stated in his video, “$100 to $400,000 Started From the Bottom,” that he makes four hundred thousand dollars a year from competing in Call of Duty tournaments all over the world (2015. E-Sport athletes should not be able to be more wealthy than a college professor. These athletes do not mold students to be good citizens. They play sports on television and make millions of dollars for running and throwing things better than everyone else. To make matters worse, these athletes are not even doing any physical activity for this sport. They are encouraging children to stare at computer monitors playing video games for strenuous periods of time. There is also a major problem in the E-Sports community that is also in the NFL, NHL, MLB, and etc. The abuse of performance enhancing drugs. Many players use drugs to keep themselves focused on the game and to not get distracted by the crowd watching them. The most common use however, is to increase the player's athletic abilities. These players are supposed to be setting a good example right? They are not payed to teach kids to abuse drugs and cheat to
Although Athletes entertain us all and provide us with something to look forward to, their paychecks are too big for what they do. There are millions of people who are injured in the military or have illnesses that need that money to help them recover ,but instead we give the money to people who entertain us.
Salaries, wages, and compensations have always been major and generally controversial topics in democratic America. And, with the rising popularity of college athletics, particularly football, compensation (or lack thereof) for college athletes has recently been a hot topic in American sports. While some of the debate stems from the similarity between responsibilities college athletes have to their programs and those of professionals, most of the issue involves the principles of amateurism. Recent “scandals” involving college athletes such as Terrelle Pryor, Johnny Manziel, and Todd Gurley have raised questions about the ethics of amateurism, particularly with regard to the NCAA organization. The issue is found in a very gray area, where there is most likely no definitive one-size-fits-all solution, but the resolution of this issue is one that will change and shape the future of college athletics across the national landscape.
If an athlete is willing to do everything in his power to help his team succeed, then he should not be ashamed of that. The choices made by the participants should be exactly that, their choices. The acceptance of risk is strictly up to the user and should not be forced upon them by a higher authority. Professional sports should be looked at for what they are, a money-making
The value of entertainment in our society is arguable. We as a society constantly search for new ways to entertain ourselves; professional sports are a major contribution to our source of entertainment. If those who support athletes and their sports have no problem paying to see them,
Today’s sport’s world is the biggest revenue making industry in the world. Different sports bring in different amounts of revenue but they are all enormous amounts. I myself love sports so there are a few sports that I contribute to financially also. Is it fair that professional athletes get paid millions of dollars to entertain us?
These Pro Athletes are also getting paid a lot of money becauses they are really well in their sport and why are they doing well. It may because they have a lot of talent and put a lot of time into training but also a lot of it could be the use of a performance