Are pro athletes overpaid

[badreligion]

Yes or No


I say yes

 

[cloudgazer2k]

Yes or No


I say yes

absolutely. i bust my balls year around for the tiny paycheck i get every two weeks, while they get millions for playing with their balls a few months out of the year. tell me...where the fuck is my Nike deal for being a badass barista?

 

[Marquis De Sade]

No.

Considering the amount of psychical abuse a lot of them endure through training alone (let alone actual showtime), injuries sustained, the constant road tripping and being away from their families, having to play on holidays, crap weather, making appearances, taxes and paying out their "people" - agents, managers, legal team, PR people, etc...

 

[SamuelKhan]

They get paid shitloads to do what we used to do in PhysEd class everyday on the playground. The same lucky puds who got to play Little League Baseball because their moms and dads were in the right social circles are now making more than you or the entire TMF will ever make in a lifetime. (mind you, not every kid gets to make the American Legion squad).

Are they over paid...Fuck yes.

 

[badreligion]

No.

Considering the amount of psychical abuse a lot of them endure through training alone (let alone actual showtime), injuries sustained, the constant road tripping and being away from their families, having to play on holidays, crap weather, making appearances, taxes and paying out their "people" - agents, managers, legal team, PR people, etc...

What about police officers they have to deal with physical abuse on the job and they dont get paid the outragous wages that athletes to and police officers are more useful than athletes. Alot of people work on holidays what makes atletes so special that they get more money than someone whos actually making a difference

 

[FlockOfSeagulls]

No.

Considering the amount of psychical abuse a lot of them endure through training alone (let alone actual showtime), injuries sustained, the constant road tripping and being away from their families, having to play on holidays, crap weather, making appearances, taxes and paying out their "people" - agents, managers, legal team, PR people, etc...

you sound just like an agent. The answer is Hell Yes

 

[Goodieluver]

No they are not

1. An athlete has to pay taxes in every state he plays in since its work
2. Since he makes more money, he gets taxed more period
3. They are paid to entertain you. If you want to go down the line, then actors shouldnt get paid for blockbuster movie roles because "anybody can do it"
They get paid millions because they do what anybody CANT do. Everybody can't hit a 90 mph fastball consecutively or play 16+ games of football with no injuries and be competitive.

If you want to do the argument that "I work and dont get that money" well, mcdonalds people work hard and only get minimum wage. Athletes are paid for their skill and performance level and market value

 

[Marquis De Sade]

What about police officers they have to deal with physical abuse on the job and they dont get paid the outragous wages that athletes to and police officers are more useful than athletes. Alot of people work on holidays what makes atletes so special that they get more money than someone whos actually making a difference

Hmmm...very good point. Then again though, so are these:

No they are not

1. An athlete has to pay taxes in every state he plays in since its work
2. Since he makes more money, he gets taxed more period
3. They are paid to entertain you. If you want to go down the line, then actors shouldnt get paid for blockbuster movie roles because "anybody can do it"
They get paid millions because they do what anybody CANT do. Everybody can't hit a 90 mph fastball consecutively or play 16+ games of football with no injuries and be competitive.

If you want to do the argument that "I work and dont get that money" well, mcdonalds people work hard and only get minimum wage. Athletes are paid for their skill and performance level and market value

Which is pretty much what I was going for...

 

[-Hari-]

I say yes too, im not sure about over inthe US but football/soccer players for example get paid stupid amounts of money, its been said that if david beckam dropped £20, he would have made it back by the time he bent down to pick it back up again... stupid amounts of money

 

[Goodieluver]

What about police officers they have to deal with physical abuse on the job and they dont get paid the outragous wages that athletes to and police officers are more useful than athletes. Alot of people work on holidays what makes atletes so special that they get more money than someone whos actually making a difference

Does the police force bring in the money MLB brings in?

Lets take Kevin brown or Pedro Martinez, because years ago they were the market value top pitcher

They get paid for 200-300 innings of pitching, putting stress and eventually limited the use of their arm later because of the damage being done. Also, they are giving the team money by putting fans in the seats and advertising, so in the sense they are profit sharing. Why shouldnt a star athlete ask for 10% of the profit he made the team?

 

[Goodieluver]

Athletes are also paid to change how they run their lives. They need to maintain constant shape to keep performance. Do back breaking workouts in the heat(football training camp) and keep training to not lose a step\gain one. Meanwhile John Q public is prob at some desk typing at a keyboard.

I always notice the main people who complain about people making huge sums of money are people who are jealous of it. Would i like to be the worst player in mlb? Hell yes, because you got to be crazy good to be the worst in a major league sport.

Also for a note, a NFL kicker can make 70k-90,000. People will say "Thats too much, i dont make that in a year!"

Well thats also not guaranteed money and if a kicker boots a few shots, well, he's out of the job and if he popped his knee on a kick and was cut, who u think pays for it?

 

[Francie_Pants]

My theory is this. Sports players only get paid as much as we allow them to be paid. If we stop buying tickets and watching the games, the money would run out pretty quickly, because if nobody's watching, the endorsements go away too. I think as long as we're willing to pay the price of the entertainment, they're making a fair wage for providing it. I myself don't attend the games, and rarely watch them on tv. I much prefer college sports. I see a lot more 'heart' in them. 🙂

 

[Marquis De Sade]

Plus, what an athlete gets (and actors), PALES in comparison to what the people behind the scenes get.

 

[Goodieluver]

My theory is this. Sports players only get paid as much as we allow them to be paid. If we stop buying tickets and watching the games, the money would run out pretty quickly, because if nobody's watching, the endorsements go away too. I think as long as we're willing to pay the price of the entertainment, they're making a fair wage for providing it. I myself don't attend the games, and rarely watch them on tv. I much prefer college sports. I see a lot more 'heart' in them. 🙂

Tampa and Kansas City make low money from attendence but they still average over 300,000(the league minimum)

Some would say that is too much

 

[luvgirlsfeet]

HELL YES

 

[Ovda]

Yes. They are seriously overpaid.

 

[milagros317]

If they perform well enough to put bodies in the seats (especially bodies that consume huge amounts of overpriced hot dogs and beer), then they deserve every cent of their huge salaries.

 

[Sandrock74]

Yes, athletes (and actors) are highly overpaid, especially when you consider the "extra" stuff like bonuses, endorcements, etc.
Also, they don't even work the whole year either.

 

[Cy/MiG]

Goodie makes some good points, but the answer is still YES in my book.

Baseball and Basketball players for sure get WAY too much money.

At least there's 'severe injury risk' in Hockey and Football, so I can forgive that a little.

But overall, athletes are paid far too much (espescially if/when you factor in endorsements).

And athletes don't NEED agents, they choose to sign with them to boost their image and marketability.

 

[baldadonis]

They're overpaid compared to what 99.99&% of the population of the country, almost all of which do jobs that are of much greater importance. However, in simple economic terms, you are worth what someone is willing to pay you. I don't begrudge any player for getting an owner to pay him ridiculous sums of money. I'd do it too if I could.

 

[Fangz]

Yes they are overpaid. You could feed a small country on the New York Yankees' payroll but any athlete particularly the high payed ones have so much pressure on them that if they don't perform well day in and day out they won't be cashing those checks for much longer and face public ridicule along with a lot of hatred.

 

[Musicroxmysox]

Totally. Give some to people that are doing something good for the world.

 

[CurtWild]

i don't think they are overpaid

 

[Redmage]

Hmm. Well, I can see two different versions of "overpaid."

In one, they're "overpaid" because, thanks to their salaries, sports franchises have to charge more for tickets than fans really want to pay - though not more than they WILL pay.

In the other sense, they're "overpaid" because they cost more than they bring back in revenue.

I suppose they might be overpaid in the first sense, but as long as fans do fork over whatever the franchise demands for tickets, it's hard to argue that it's a really serious problem. Most of them aren't overpaid in the second sense though, because the franchises do keep making profits.

 

[Scouse]

Theres money in sport. I'd much rather see it go to the players than investors.