Eli Manning won the Super Bowl… again.
Derek Jeter is team captain of the New York Yankees and has five World Series rings.
But, what’s more staggering to me is how much money these professional athletes pull in. A quick search on the Internet puts both of them well over $100M/year in salary and endorsements.
Now, we understand playing pro sports takes a toll on your body.
In fact, we learned the average football player shortens his life by “years” because of all the impact endured playing the game. So, some would clearly argue the millions of $$$ athletes make includes hazard pay.
Which leads to this burning question…
Loading ...We want to know if you feel baseball or football players deserve to earn more money and why.
Share with us your thoughts in the comment section below.
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About CAREEREALISM
Hey, this is the capital of the free world, isn’t it? Let the market decide! I would love to be in that tax bracket, but til then, I can’t complain about the players getting paid whatever the market will bare to py them.
Neither. If the suggestion is to pay players based on how much damage they could do to themselves, why not football (soccer), rugby, or Australian Rules? Those are much more damaging to the body, and quite frankly the sports are faster paced and more enjoyable to watch.
However I disagree with those that would rather pay those that serve more. The market sets the rate.
Of course, no surprises here seeing the majority of the voters picked football because well – it hurts the most. This isn’t to discount the arm injuries from swinging or pitching, the hip and worn out knees from the running, sliding and ducking and certainly not to down play the serious harm should that ball veer a little too close to home (no pun intended). Football is an aggressive sport, period so sure, I see where more money comes into play.
Still, no matter how much athletes are subjected to physical ailments I can’t help but think that they serve no real purpose. They are purely for entertainment whereas you have other professions that DO serve a purpose and can literally mean life or death (yeah, I’ll use the cliche’ doctor but it’s true) who are lucky if they’re making $100k a year.
The operative word is “deserves”; that’s a values call… to me nobody “deserves” to make that much money for playing a game. I know superstars bring in the bucks for team owners, but it’s sad. Not only is the comparison to teachers, police officers and others sad, but so is the comparison to the heads of major charities, universities, and other institutions that benefit society so much more than sports. It galls me to see people play a silly game- regardless of their great skills at it- and be valued so highly.
Kudos to Larry Rudnick… I’m not a teacher either, but as a profession education has a greater potential for societal improvement than just about any other, and we simply don’t value teachers or professors as we should.
Neither. It’s a game and shortering your life is the risk you understood and accepted. No one does anything worth that amount of money. We can add “rock stars” and actors to the list of grossly overpaid. Good teachers, firefighters, police, military deserve decent pay and benefits.
In America we participate in a free market economy. This means that athletes, actors, and entertainers are free to earn as much as the market will bear for their services. In my opinion NO sports athlete is worth the outlandish sum of money the elite professionals earn. Frankly, I place a higher value of worth on the person who is teaching my children than I do a professional athlete.
For all those who are bashing what professional athletes make, I say this: they earn their money by providing entertainment that millions of americans enjoy and endorse. Do you feel the same way about the salaries of Hollywood movie stars? If you don’t like it, you can choose not to enjoy/endorse. If the owners of professional sports teams weren’t raking in the cash from TV contracts, ticket prices, jersey & memorabilia sales, stadium naming rights, and sweet-heart tax deals from city & State governments, they wouldn’t be able to pay those kinds of salaries. I agree that a lot of professions in our country are underpaid (I don’t believe doctors are underpaid). However, whenever I hear these arguments against professional athletes, I would ask you to take a serious look at CEO salaries (and don’t forget to include their cash bonuses and Stock options). Their salary increase in just the last few years , during the significant downturn in the economy, have been egregious. Just google “CEO rate of salary increases”…
Neither. Start with teachers, police, firefighters, EMTs, nurses, doctors. Sports players rarely, if ever, deserve the salaries they receive. It’s their chosen field of “expertise” and just because it may be a shortened playing time due to injuries doesn’t mean it’s worth millions of dollars a year. And then to complain that they’re not making enough (witness most recent lockout, walkout, etc. by your favorite sport). My goodness, I sure wish I made what they made and still have the balls to complain.
And how about the (_________( fill in your own adjective)) owner of the Venetian in Las Vegas, Adelman, who donated $10 million dollars to Newt Gingrich’s presidental bid. TAKE THE $10 MILLION DOLLARS AND PUT IT IN AN EMPLOYEE POOL AND GIVE IT TO YOUR EMPLOYEES!!!!!
Somebody who helps or seeks to improve the quality of human life, like any doctor whether it be a surgeon or emergency room, for example. And of course, I am ANTI movie star, or music person (entertainer) and I am ANTI sports person. I am also ANTI excessive corporate CEO types who receive the big bucks and has done nothing to aid or achieve the corporation to its success.
I voted for football because of the consistent impact. Although getting hit with a fast ball can probably do as much or more damage with just one hit.
Athletes do deserve hazard pay but $100 million a year is unacceptable in a good or bad economy.
I agree with Adam, neither deserve the kind of money they make. Frankly, the stars are the ones who make the big bucks. Maybe it should be layered just like the real world. “X” position pays in this $$$ range and “Y” position pays in this $$$ range. Baseball players play a lot of games over their season vs football. although football can be more physically demanding, baseball’s heavy schedule can be very demanding as well.
While I believe that the skill a professional athlete displays while playing a game that’s enjoyed by thousands of fans is deserving of a good salary (since the fans are willing to pay to see them), I don’t think the absurd sums paid to them is warranted. Even a mediocre pro football played makes more than a teacher. Its a sad sign that we value athletic skills more than the ability to teach our children. Of course, there are many, many more teachers than pro football players.
Part of the reason for this is, I believe, a feeling that “anyone” can be a teacher but you need “real talent” to play pro ball. Well, this is pure nonsense. A great teacher is as rare as a great ball player.
I suppose it boils down to the free market – ball players get paid what the market will bare. Their agents get paid to get them as much as possible and the teams pay it because they sell tickets and get them championships. A great teacher still only has themselves (and maybe a much weakened union).
(BTW, I’m not a teacher)
The part of this question that is much more mind-boggling to me is that these players (like the rest of us) are largely just earning a percentage of the revenue that they generate. It’s amazing to realize the value that they provide to their organization simply by playing a game that can be easily viewed by tens of thousands of fans.
You can argue that prices for TV contracts, game-tickets, and everything else are too high and therefore the revenue produced is higher than it might otherwise be, but we’re the ones choosing to pay it.
It kind of makes you wonder what it would take to do your job in a way that could get thousands of people to either buy tickets or tune in via TV to watch you work.
Let’s face it, no athlete is worth that kind of money to play games. The idea that some relief pitchers in baseball make more than $10,000 PER PITCH or that Albert Pujols makes thousands of dollars per at bat is incomprehensible and very disheartening to the average joe 9-5′er fan who’s breaking their necks right now to pay their bills and keep their job so they don’t lose their house.