Are Athletes Paid Too Much?

Published on December 13, 2004 By wnx_decoy In Sports & Leisure

I'm sorry if this topic has been used up before but I am debating it in my senior skills class and I would like some input from some of you if you'd be so kind. My teacher said that she'd like it more if we had something like that and I figured this would be a GREAT way to do so.

My stand is that athletes aren't paid too much. The main points that are brought are for my arguement are that it's dangerous, the practice for the sports is intense, and they bring the people in so they make the money. If there are other points you have please help me out or if there are any good points you want to make for the opposing side I could hand them over to my debate partner. Thank you.

Capt. over and out!

Comments (Page 2)

Nitro Cruiser

on Dec 15, 2004

They would all be taking turns playing in the park if it were up to me. Yes, they are over paid. Do I blame them? No. Wish I had a job playing a game for a living. If people want to spend their hard earned money so an athlete can drive his Lamborghini from his/her mansion to the summer home, so be it. Problem here is we are all paying for it. Manufacturers pay big bucks for endorsements and pass it on to the consumers, fans or not. It's just a shame the average guy can't afford to take his kid to a "pro" game. Used to be a time players did it for love of the game, few of those people left these days. Of course I wouldn't just limit it to athletes; there are CEO's and politicians too. How much money is enough? We'll never know because as long as they get what they ask for, it will never be enough. There are no hero professional athletes, just mercenaries.

wnx_decoy

on Dec 15, 2004

Well, thanks once again. I got a B- on the debate. That was because of the fact that I forgot to get a visual aid until the last minute. Oh well, thanks for the input guys.

If you want to keep voicing your opinion of course I'm ok with that still, it can only help.

Capt. over and out!

quav

on Dec 16, 2004

lets boycot those high paying sports franchises so the price would come donw.

Gideon MacLeish

on Dec 17, 2004

Captain,

Your perception of "danger" is greatly skewed. There have been a very small number of deaths related to professional sports as compared to the workforce at large. Underground miners, for instance, work in the most deadly occupation there is, and yet their salary ranges from as low as $9 an hour to an average $20-30 an hour ($40,000-60,000 a year; a fraction of the league MINIMUMS for the NFL, NBA, and MLB).

Athletes are for the most part, spoiled, selfish individuals who are overcompensated for their athletic abilities.

I do have a blog in my archives on the deadliest occupations, btw...professional sports is nowhere on the list. I'll try to pull up the article for reference.

Gideon MacLeish

on Dec 17, 2004

Reply #7 By: mindlar - 12/13/2004 11:51:31 PM
Taking a shot at the easy one: athletes are not overpaid because we live in a free market society where people are paid what other people are willing to pay them.

Actually, that's not entirely true. Their salaries are often disputed by holdouts supported by the "Union". It is hardly free market when the alternative to paying the salaries the athletes deem "acceptable" is the entire shutdown of the league (seen any good NHL games lately?).

wnx_decoy

on Dec 21, 2004

Thanks Gideon that sounds good.

Capt. over and out!

BigPappi

on Apr 25, 2006

Your just jealous that you have no athletic talent because you were born with a vigina. Lifes not fair and athletes work a helluva lot harder than you ever will

BigPappi

on Apr 25, 2006

Hey sticky ass Sarah, your just jealous that you have no athletic talent because you were born with a vagina. Lifes not fair and athletes work a helluva lot harder than you ever will

stutefish

on Apr 25, 2006

Athletes are paid no more than the people paying them are willing to pay.

The people doing the paying are the only ones who can say for sure whether or not their money is well spent.

Since they're obviously paying the athletes (well, the athletes that are getting paid, anyway), I'm going to assume that they don't think athletes are being paid too much.

wnx_decoy

on Apr 26, 2006

That's a good way to look at it except for one detail. Just because you're spending the money doesn't mean it's the right choice. Take the U.S. government for example. Those guys couldn't figure out how to spend their money; if they depended on it (which they do).

Capt. over and out!

stutefish

on Apr 27, 2006

That's a good way to look at it except for one detail. Just because you're spending the money doesn't mean it's the right choice.

Yeah, but it's my money. As long as I'm not breaking any laws, I can spend it any way I want, and only I can say for sure if it's the "right" choice.

Athletes want to get paid top dollar, and they're willing to work for it. Sports team owners want a roster of top athletes, and are willing to pay for it. And the fans, as ever, are willing to pay for all the games, jerseys, bobbleheads, and whatnot that the teams and leagues care to sell.

So everybody is getting what they want, and everybody is getting it for a price they're content to pay. So far, it seems like a win-win-win situation, to me.

It's not like there's some Sports League Bible somewhere, that says that the pro sports industry must always have certain qualities, and must never have certain other qualities. So saying that pro athlete salary inflation is "changing" or "ruining" the game doesn't really matter, in my opinion.

lkjd

on Sep 15, 2006

ljdadf

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