Overall, professional athletes are well compensated. They work far too hard to not be compensated fairly. The players are not paid to sit on the sidelines; they are paid to risk everything and participate in the sport. In fact, many high-profile athletes make a great deal of money after their sports careers are over.
The first thing that comes to mind when thinking about whether or not professional athletes deserve their salaries is whether they contribute enough to their teams to be considered fair compensation. The short answer here is yes. Professional athletes understand that they are being paid to play a game so they try to get as much done with each hour on the field or court as possible. If they were given more time to complete tasks it would mean less time for them to do something else with their life. For example, an athlete could possibly find themselves in trouble with law enforcement because they were not doing anything else with their time besides play basketball or football.
Another way in which professional athletes drain their energy is by spending their free time socializing with other people's money. Contractors who build arenas for NBA teams earn plenty of dollars because many top athletes want to live in large cities where they can find entertainment options beyond sports. Tennis players often spend their time in exclusive lounges where they can unwind with drinks after a tough match.
All players are so committed to their sport that they are willing to risk harm in order to participate, especially in a sport like football where contact is the norm. Athletes are subjected to an enormous amount of psychological stress. Many break down under the pressure and have mental problems after they retire. Sports psychologists help players deal with all the stress of competition.
The average NFL player earns between $120,000 and $180,000 per season. That's less than what other high-profile athletes make. In 2014, the highest-paid athlete was baseball player Mike Trout, who made $425,000. Basketball's LeBron James came in second at $400,000. Football's Tom Brady took third at $300,000. And then there's Jordan, who made $1 million a year during his career.
Athletes often have huge contracts when they're drafted. For example, when the Seattle Seahawks selected Russell Wilson with the third overall pick in the 2012 NFL draft, his contract was worth up to $63 million over four years. It's very common for rookies to make much less money than that; in fact, only 12 percent of players earn more than $5 million annually.
The term "contract" is used by lawyers to describe the agreement that binds the parties together.
However, since the argument began over the NCAA's income from broadcasting, the solution appears to be simple: the athletes who should be paid are those who play the sports that bring in the big bucks, mainly men's college basketball and football players.
The number of men's basketball games broadcast on television is limited because there are only so many games each year between highly ranked teams. Thus, the price for advertising during these games goes up, which means they can charge more for tickets and merchandise. In addition, most men's basketball programs receive federal funding, which requires them to provide an opportunity for their students to get a free education. This could be jeopardized if they were to start paying their players.
Men's college football starts with nearly every school playing its first game of the season against an opponent from another conference or country. As a result, there are many high-profile matches each year and people want to watch them, which means they need to pay attention to what happens on the field. However inappropriate it may be, fans tend to think about how much money each player makes before watching games. If one player is shown on TV announcing that he has received payment from a commercial company then other players might feel pressured to do the same or lose their jobs. This would mean less exposure for their schools and likely not help them earn a living after graduation.
"Sports get paid millions of dollars to play a game," is a typical argument used to justify criticizing professional athletes' annual salaries. It is, nevertheless, entirely warranted. The highest-paid athletes in the world are superstars who generate enormous revenues for their teams and themselves. Their salaries are therefore expected to be high.
It is true that many sports people do not work long hours or experience much stress and thus make relatively little money. But some athletes do well because of their talent and skill; they should not be blamed for their success. And even if they were just lucky, it would still be wrong to blame them for being rich because of it.
The fact is that most professional athletes receive huge sums of money because of their fame and popularity. If they weren't famous, they would not earn as much. As for actors: many low-budget films fail but many big-budget movies succeed, so acting is also a form of gambling. If you are good at what you do, you will likely earn more than someone who is not.
In conclusion, yes, the high salaries paid to athletes and actors are completely justified because they are talented at what they do.
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