Do Athletes Deserve Millions of Dollars?

Yes because they bring in more than that to their team through ticket sales, apparel, and sponsorships.

who knows if they deserve it, thats opinion. but we pay for it basically

idk its ridiculous

i was randomly watching cribs today with carmello anthony and it's just insane, he definitely doesn't need that much money

Yes, pro sports are part of the entertainment business. They deserve it just as much as any actor or musician.

i think a skier who throws dubs off an 80ft kicker deserves more than a black/asian/whatever guy who hits a tiny ball with a stick

just as much as actors or musicians, they just put on a different show.

I would also like to throw this in:

When players get paid for a performance, what ever state they are in gets the income tax.

For example, when Peyton Manning played in this past Super Bowl, all that money he made during those couple of hours got taxed, and went to the state of Florida. Thats pretty legit in my book.

WE HAD A debate about this in my sports marketing class last year. professional athletes get the millions of dollars they get, (but perhaps don't deserve, in some perspectives) because they are the only people in the world who can do what they do. it is a rare talent that they posses. you cannot find someone on the street who can dunk a basketball on a 10 foot rim and run a suicide in record time that easily. professional athletes know this. therefore, they demand more money for their skillz because they know that the market can bear paying them large salaries, and that they are a rare breed of human.

are you kidding me? athletes make much more than they should

arod makes about $27 mil a year
tiger makes almost $100 mil in sponsors and all

They are both great at what they do but so are so many other people that live normal lives

/

Your last name SUCKS!

I think they are grossly overpaid, but since you need some points i'll give you some. You could argue that since they retire at such a young age the money they get while playing is sort of a pension ( Not sure if they already get one through the league they are in though so you should look into that). They are basically away from their family for the entire span of the season. They become a public figure. So, nearly every facet of their life is publicized, or at least with the super stars. I mean look at Kobe, Ben Rothlisberger (sp?), and Tiger. They do work incredibly hard at what they do, and people are willing the pay insane amounts of money to watch them play. Fans give them unreal amounts of shit while they are and aren't playing. Due to their contract they are very limited in the kinds of activities they do in the off season.

Not very good points, but I hope they help you out.

the money doesn't just appear out of nowhere...the money from ticket sales and sponsors is where all the money is coming from. so if these athletes aren't getting millions, where would all of this money go? sponsors are always going to want to advertise and stadiums are still going to be bringing in millions from ticket sales

You see i agree and disagree. I agree because some people do have natural talent. but i disagree because the people that have "normal" jobs also have a talent at there "normal" job. shouldn't they be getting paid the same?

they do something a hell of a lot more relevant to society than kicking a ball or putting it in a hoop.


teachers make 40k
athletes make 40 million

that makes sense.

Thanks to everyone who has given me some ideas.

Another question, how do you feel about taxes paying for huge stadiums and arenas, that are, for the most part, a private building. The only way you can get in to one is by paying heavily for a ticket.

Is this fair?

absolutely not.

No actually it doesn't make sense to me. Teachers, as much as we hate them, do help society in many ways making the next generation of kids and young adults learn what to do in certain situations and for what they need for there jobs.

Athletes do not contribute to society in anyway. I see them as selfish, in a way, because they are generally not contributing to society.

Although i do respect the athletes who donate money to charities.

i think you missed the sarcasm lol.

i 100% agree.

oh oh haha. yeah i guessed i missed it completely.

Okay, but think about how much money is brought in to the local economy during a sporting event. Indianapolis just hosted the NCAA Final Four. Tens of thousands of people visited Indy over the weekend. Granted, a fourth of them lived in Indy (Butler fans), but imagine all the out of town guests in town. All fifty thousand out of state basketball fans had to stay some where. They had to eat some where. This, as you can imagine, generated lots of money (multiple millions) for Indy. None of this would have been possible without the construction $500 million Lucas Oil Stadium. I personaly think it is a great investiment for sities to build stadiums/arenas.

i suppose this is true.

cities**

Also as i recall. Olympic athletes do not get payed for being olympic athletes. don't know how this relates but i feel like it does in some way.

let me first off say, i know you are going to be a teacher Ben. and yes i agree that in a perfect world teachers would make more than they do now. and god knows my college professors are worth more than they get paid.

hhahahaha. and yes i know it sounds very idealistic, and i honestly dont expect it to change.


i mean i spend a TON of money on bulls/bears tickets. im just as guilty of supporting the absurdity.


i just think its amusing that some of the most essential positions in terms of societal worth get paid far less than someone whose career is simply running around on a field.

Those who can't do, teach.

i wish every person who said that was forced to teach.

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those who can't teach, teach gym

teachers are paid from the taxpayers dollar...athletes are paid from $$ brought in by ticket sales and sponsors...if you think teachers deserve more money, than that means you don't mind paying higher taxers...that's always peoples argument...they're like "firefighters, teachers and police men deserve to be paid more than any athlete"...then when you ask them if they would pay higher taxes they say "hell no"

uhhhhhh tax the rich?

yup

or take the taxes you spend on new stadiums, and turn that towards education.

They deserve it fully think about the Corporate men who make 10X as much without exerting any physical effort its entertainment and they are the best in the world at what they do.

yeah really. those fuckers put up one hell of a stadium here.

I hope you know your conflicting with your NS name's thoughts...

yes most do but i think baseball players are WAYYYYY overpayed for what they do.

As long as people continue to watch them be an athlete, yes.

well i think that all action sport athletes are UNDERPAID EXCEPT FOR SHAUN WHITE!, but most other athletes are way overpaid they should only be paid if they win or something especially basketball, football, and baseball

haha are you joking?

are you kidding? hitting a baseball at an mlb level is probably harder than any other one aspect of a sport

Society pays for special talents. Only a very, very, very small percentage have the skill set to be a professional athlete, but about 25% of people, maybe more, could go to school for being a teacher and jobs like that.

lol. theres a difference between showing up to a classroom and "teaching" and being a good teacher. being a skilled teacher takes a ton of skill.

athletes work hard to get where they are they dont sit around and smoke dope all professional athlete have been working out and training their whole lives to become the best they rent sittin around smokin dope all off season i wouldnt wanna be a pro nfl player all they do is exercise and play football but they r rich as fuck so they get to do other sick shit to

Why I am quoting Ben, I have no idea.


But ice cream dude.... makes like 50k every fight maybe a little more with sponsorships.... Not every pro athlete makes 300million dollars a year.

And the pic, the guy is undefeated. In over 30 fights.

I think they definitely are over paid, however I think the ones that do well in their communities with the surplus of cash make it worth paying for. For example, if an athlete makes 10 million and most of it goes to taxes, then he donates 1 million, he is still left with a good chunk of money, but a lot has also gone back to the community. Plus who doesn't love sports? Its the perfect thing to distract you from the shitty boring things in life and it gets you healthy and active, so it gives kids something to aspire to... i dunno i'm losing my train of thought

Adam Smith's diamond-water paradox theory...nice a good read :). The only thing is you forgot to mention in circumstances water is far more valuable than diamonds. For instance, in the desert, or a community where diamonds are rendered useless.

not only for the elite ability they are gifted with in the sport they play, but also for the image they need to uphold in the media. both of these can be compromised by sterroids, blah blah blah expand and explain. feel free to donate some k

Yeah they may be able to go to school, but that doesn't mean they'll be any good at it. I think you would be surprised how hard it is to actually teach something good and not look like a complete fool/NEWB.