Do athletes make too much?

[Ballsaque]

This past weekend I was hanging out in Seattle visiting my sister. She took me all around the city sightseeing, eating, drinking, and all manner of other activities.

One of the things that struck me hard was the extent of the homeless situation in the heart of the city. For people who live in Seattle it's probably something they've become accustomed to. But to someone like me, coming from a relatively suburban part of New Jersey, the depth of Seattle's homeless problem was jarring and troubling.

One of the things that it made me think about was how much resources our society invests in frivolous things, sports being one of the big ones.

There are 10s of thousands of athletes in our country making millions of dollars essentially playing adolescent games.

I realize that the money that is directed Into sports is simply the result of free markets and people making personal decisions with their own money. And that's great.

But it still makes me wonder if our priorities as a society are messed up. We invest in child's games to the extent that the participants of these games get to live like royalty, while some of the biggest cities in our country are overflowing with homeless and starving people.

Maybe we can do better? Or maybe not?

I don't know. But I hope things get better in the future. The richest country in the history of the world should not have so many people in the streets living hopeless and destitute lives

I think the sports spending is a very little piece in a large puzzle. But yes, the celebrety worship in the US has always been wierd and unbecoming - As elsewhere, but it seems to have completely overtaken in the US.

 

[Brampton_Boy]

As others have noted in this thread, a person's salary is largely dictated by what the market will bare. It is also worth noting that if we look at the situation from the perspective of "scarcity of talent/ability", top level athletes are indeed a rare breed and compensated accordingly. While I don't have the actual numbers in front of me, out of 10,000 people, how many people will possess the ability to be a professional athlete in a major sport? 50 maybe? Even occupations like being a doctor or lawyer are much more common when you look at the number of people in the general population that can do those jobs.

You also have to remember that pay drops off significantly if you are not in the upper echelon of the sport. An MLB player may make $10 million a year, but a AAA player makes $20,000. By all accounts, a triple A player is still an elite athlete, but the public only wants to see the best of the best. It's also why you see abysmal pay for woman athletes.

While I may not agree that athletes are worth what they are paid, I understand why they are. The one occupation/vocation that kind of violates market principles and makes no sense in terms of what they are paid are Instagram/OnlyFans personalities. There is virtually no barrier to entry, and the internet is already full of free pornography/sexually suggestive material. Yet, there are some people pulling in 6 figures monthly - I don't think there is a single other profession that can net that type of return, given the relatively ubiquitous nature of what is being offered and the lack of skill involved. With that being said, I'm not going to hate on a woman (or man) for getting their bag - as long as they aren't hurting anyone, keep doing what your doing.

 

[moreorless87]

I think the sports spending is a very little piece in a large puzzle. But yes, the celebrety worship in the US has always been wierd and unbecoming - As elsewhere, but it seems to have completely overtaken in the US.

Really I would say sportsmens earnings tend to be rather less exploitive than most high earners along of course with only making up a tiny percentage of them, I spose you could argue making money from working with companies like Nike gets them involved more with exploitative labour pratices.

Turing politics into a celebtiy battlefield though is a nice way to shift things if you just want to keep the status quo.

 

[empsim]

Here we go again with the "they deserve it because the demand is there".

How about the demand for all the workers that people called "heroes" when the pandemic started, and are now back to treating them like shit while still paying nothing?

Anyone making that much money should get taxed to the fucking moon, so we can take some weight off those people struggling to survive. Of course it's never gonna happen because the people making these decisions are the rich ones.

 

[KeepingItReal]

No, they make just the right amount, however much they can possibly make. I would say the issue you're referring to is mostly a thankfulness, generosity and corruption issue. That is, getting the opportunity to earn this kind of money, most athletes(and executives, CEO's, etc.) should be grateful and be generous enough to help diminish problems of poverty. Of course there is the issue of corruption, it's hard to know which individual or organization to trust with your money, in the hopes it won't be wasted but it will be used for the intended purpose of helping those in need, those who can't help themselves.

 

[Jkillah]

Michael Jordan has brought more joy to the world than the entire homeless population of Chicago.

 

[KnightTemplar]

If the Athletes make less, it's only the Billionaires owner who are going to make more.

don't blame the athletes, it's supply and demands TS

This. The market self-regulates. As soon as athletes no longer bring in huge profits, their wages will start to drop accordingly. It's the same with movies; RDJ made something like $60 Million from his last few MCU movies alone. But Infinity War and Endgame brought in Billions.

 

[RogerB08]

Show ff hands, who remembers this?

https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1985-04-16-sp-23369-story.html

 

[Takes_Two_To_Tango]

Entertainment is highly valued in our society. So it doesn't surprise me that athletes, actors, musicians get paid the way they do.

 

[Bacco]

You get the money you can get

 

[JudoThrowFiasco]

The same people who belly ache about athletes pay are the same who champion labour rights and unionship. Well, athletes tend to have tremendous unions that fought for an equitable share of the pie. They are also highly specialized in their field and are in the top fractional percent, hence they get paid accordingly to their market share. High Skills + in demand field +strong labor representation = big pay days (more equitable split in revenue)

Also, very, very, very few people actually care about poor people. In fact, most people don't view homeless as humans

https://bioethics.georgetown.edu/20...ple-dont-see-homeless-people-as-human-beings/

 

[machidafan99]

I don't see a connection. Society needs entertainment.

I hate junkies but if non-junkie homeless need a safe place to stay I think voluntary donations could solve the issue. Maybe you can organize it.

 

[panamaican]

Nope. Pro athletes are like the top 0.01% of their industry.

Comparatively, the top 0.01% of most industries makes far more than pro athletes.

 

[JRD054]

Some do, some don't get paid enough.

 

[shunyata]

If the Athletes make less, it's only the Billionaires owner who are going to make more.

don't blame the athletes, it's supply and demands TS

TS sees the results of income inequality in a major city and thinks "the real problem here is overpaid athletes".

Meanwhile the poor maligned team owners cry about needing public taxpayer money to support for profit stadiums.



Homelessness and income inequality are very real very serious problems.

But athlete pay has nothing to do with those issues.

To paraphrase Chris Rock, there's a difference between rich and wealthy.

Shaq signs a multi million dollar deal, he's rich.

The guy who signs the contract and signs those paychecks to Shaq, he's wealthy.

 

[TribalDrumz]

Definitely the sport where guys get paid the most for doing the least.

I guess it's good for taking dudes from the slums of Cuba,Domincan Republic into gold chain millionaires standing around on bases.

 

[Ichibanner]

In terms of the actual value of their jobs? Yes.

In terms of their percentage of the actual revenue generated? No.