Why Are Athletes Overpaid

Do you think professional athletes are overpaid? You might think they earn more than what they are worth for playing half a year, but athletes have many things which contribute to their salary. Some of these things include their earnings from endorsements, ticket sales, performance, merchandise, their social contributions, and TV ratings. Although there are many factors that contribute to their salary, professional athletes may be overpaid because as a society, we contribute to their success. So, in the end, part of the athlete’s salary comes from the people who support the sports in the first place. These are just some of the reasons why athletes are paid so much money.

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

When sports exploded in the 1900’s athletes were paid like regular working citizens. Most athletes had to work over the summer to keep their mortgages paid. In present day, professional athletes are dished out astronomical salaries in exchange for their play. Many of these athletes have the opportunity to be set for life within the first years of their contracts. Eighteen and nineteen year olds are given multi-million dollar contracts. While these athletes are getting paid these ridiculous amounts of money, we have millions of hard working public service members that are getting the tiniest fractions of some of these contracts. In comparison, “each basket

“Touchdown Patriots! 3, 2, 1! And the Patriots win the Superbowl!” Millions of pieces of confetti were falling on them, as if it were the money that they make every year. But wouldn’t you think that people, like doctors, would earn 5.15 million dollars for saving people’s lives every single day, and professional football players would make $189,000 - $258,000? It is actually the other way around. Professional athletes started to get paid for playing sports in the 1920’s, which is when people started to actually notice them, and they were paid, on average, 5,000 dollars a year. Now don’t get me wrong, getting paid to entertain people in fine. But today, they get paid 5.15 million dollars a year, just by playing sports. I think that might be going a little bit overboard. In my opinion, professional athletes get paid too much.

First and foremost, pro athletes should get paid less money than they already do. According to Bahgat, “In today’s society, one should be paid according to the jobs economic importance and their value to society” (Bahgat). Additionally, Firefighters and Police Officers get paid a fraction of sports athletes and they risk their lives everyday helping us. “Furthermore, police officers, firefighters, and doctors, save lives while risking their own for a fraction of what sports stars make” (Bahgat 1). In addition, there are people that can’t even afford food for their families and athletes are getting paid $100 million plus. In today’s society money could be spent in a better way than paying pro athletes

One reason that athletes should not make so much money, is that other people who work harder than them make so much less money. If someone can get paid millions of dollars to throw a football or swing a bat, then people that save lives and make our government run smoother should make a whole lot more than their current salaries. I know that athletes can be inspirations to kids, but playing sports does not help people or benefit anything in this country. Why should athletes make more money than the people that make helpful impacts in the society? This leads me to my next point.

Athletes do not deserve the salaries they earn every year. Yes, they entertain people every year, but i do not think someone should earn thousands and thousands of dollars for one game of basketball, or one game of football. I also think that pro athletes salaries affect how they

The debate of if pro athletes are overpaid has hit an all time high with all the world debt going on.They are the best in the world at their jobs, but the money they make is in the mid to high millions. Athletes can perform on all time lows on high contrast and some can face injury problems. But they can also be in there prime, and could be worth every dollar. If pro athletes are overpaid, why, or are they underpaid?

How much of an importance on productivity do athletes have on today’s society? Whether they have little to none, their contracts and endorsements tend to say otherwise. For example, David Beckham, a retired Los Angeles Galaxy soccer player, has received a forty-eight million dollar career total, while a GS-13 level astronaut makes roughly one hundred-thousand dollars a year. Some say that athletes earn their money just as we do, but that is not so apparent. Another example is how Kobe Bryant is making twenty-three million dollars this year. According to his agent though, “his on court abilities plus his talent justify his earnings,” if this was the point in all jobs, then doctors and lawyers would be making millions while athletes are put on the backburner of society. This issue is so insanely horrible that bottom-of-the-totem-pole athletes are still making hundreds of thousands more than most PhD graduates receive. Same goes for injured players too. If an athlete is injured, then he is unable to play, yet he still receives his money, because once the contract is signed, what is done is done. Athletes were not always paid more than CEOs in today’s market. In early stages of the American Football system, when it was not corrupted, almost all of the players had to have a normal day job on top of playing, because they played for fun, not for money. In today’s economy, athletes and their pay checks are far too large considering they are only used for entertainment, and they

“Unless you’re finding a cure for cancer or creating world peace, I don’t know if anyone deserves that much money.” said Drew Brees. Professional athletes are getting paid millions to provide entertainment, but they are overpaid because they are financially irresponsible and don’t help our world.

Many fans, friends complain about the excessive salaries being paid to professional athletes but do not realize how much time and work a professional athlete’s put in weeks in and out. In the article bleacher report why professional athletes aren’t paid to much by Dan Stein states that “There are many people who Complain about how athletes is being paid $25,000,000 a season or how a team with a payroll in excess of $100 million constantly permeate throughout sports talk radio and bar room discussions”. But there is medium percent of these professional athletes are being paid exactly what they deserve. Athletes are paid a lot of money because the professional sports industry is a huge business in the whole wide world with millions of fans

Many active soldiers and veterans struggle with money issues; mainly families. While actors are in their big mansions eating caviar ,complaining how small their mansions are. Actors do not do much for the world except to provide entertainment. “Soldiers are out there fighting for our country and firefighters are saving people from burning buildings.Police have their life on the line every day, even now because the hatred toward them.The list of how many people

Professional athletes are paid too much for just entertaining people there's people saving lives and they won’t make a million dollars in their lifetime. Firefighters rush into burning buildings and they are risking their lives and they don't get payed as much as athletes.

So it would make sense that these people deserve salaries that put them above everybody on the wealth scale. These people are required to spend a large amount of money and time to get where they are, so why do they make just a fraction of what athletes make? To be more specific, an average doctor has to work everyday for 76 years to make what professional boxer Floyd Mayweather makes in a single fight, even if he loses. A backup quarterback may never play a single snap in a game but he still will make three times as much as surgeon on average. If that isn't enough, how about the fact that in one week the Brooklyn Nets starting five players make just slightly less than all nine supreme court justices make in a year. There is no doubt that athletes do spend just as much time and money, if not more, as those who have professional occupations, but it all comes down to what each occupation group really does for the country. Our country simply could not function without people like Doctors, Surgeons, Engineers, and government officials, and while we may think we could not function without sports, we could. So why should a occupation that does nothing but entertain people make much more than the people that keep the country

The passages present a discussion about arguments concerning whether or not professional athletes are overpaid. This is an important debate since professional sports represents a multi-billion-dollar-per-year industry. The two positions argue whether or not professional athletes should be paid the large yearly salaries they are paid. Both viewpoints have valid claims warranting consideration. For example, evidence suggests that people with far more important jobs are paid much less than professional athletes; in contrast, opposing evidence suggests that since professional athletes generally have short careers and must train very hard to build and maintain their skills, the higher salary is justified. While both sides of the issue have valid points, the viewpoint that professional athletes are not overpaid is the best-supported position, the position supported by the preponderance of the evidence cited in the passages. The strongest and best reasons supporting this position are that professional athletes must endure grueling and intensive training, they generally have short careers that often end in injury, and the amount that they are thought to be paid is often inflated. Accordingly, these reasons and opposing viewpoints will be discussed next.