Do Professional Athletes Get Overpaid?

I did a search and couldn't find anything on this, but if it's been done, then sorry.

Anyways, what do you guys think? Do athletes get paid too much? In my opinion I believe that they are. Leave your opinion and why you think that, below.

Yes, they do, but so do entertainers, models and CEO's. However, that is how free markets work. They do generate a lot of revenue for their team owners and the owner feels they should be paid that. But for the value they add to society they are way overpaid.

No.

No. The entertainment business is huge af. They deserve what they get. The better they are at the sport, the more cash they get.

I used to think athletes and actors were overpaid when I was younger, but then I realized it's supply and demand.

In this sense, we supply them with how much demand there is for them.

So, you're saying that they deserve to make 2 or 3 more times the amount of money that the President? The President makes $410,000 a year, Lebron James makes much more. That leads to the insult that playing Basketball is harder than running a country.

They work very hard, so no.

As a firefighter who risks his life for a middle class salary, yeah they are overpaid. Greed will be the downfall of this country someday.

So does a doctor, a police officer, a firefighter, government official, lumberjack, etc. Yet they aren't getting paid nearly as much as a man that throws a ball down the field. Why should one player also get paid more than another if they work as a unit? Tony Romo's left guard makes $300,000 dollars a year to protect Tony (who gets paid more) so he can make plays and get paid more than his protector. Why is that fair?

Economics doesn't look at things from a who "deserves" perspective when looking to pay workers. Workers for a company(Let's say Wal-Mart for example) work exponentially harder than the owner's of that company does from a physical labor standpoint, but will never get anywhere near the pay that the owner's do. Professional athletes do something that an extremely small amount of the population can do, and the resulting marketing companies get off from them is worth millions, and often billions of dollars.

There is a reason why they get what they get. The higher end athletes(The Lebron James, Usain Bolt's, etc.) are just simply very profitable for many people, and their pay represents how valuable they are in that sense.

I guess, I just don't see how it's fair.

It's not about what's fair, if sports wasn't a giant business that they are, they wouldn't pay their players as much as they do now. I'm sure once a upon a time athletes weren't paid so much, years ago.

I'm well aware how it works. My point is that they shouldn't be getting that much. It's not logical, and it's completely and uttering stupid. I guess I should be asking "Do Athletes DESERVE what they get paid?"

From an economic standpoint, athletes completely deserve the type of money they get simply because they'e ludicrously more marketable/profitable people than the average person, and that is what matters when you are dealing with economics/what people are going to make. To give you an example, most people would say that a firefighter deserves to make more than an athlete, but if I put a firefighter in a commercial for selling Nike clothing for example, who would gross a larger amount of profit/garner a larger amount of interest to buy from consumers when things are factored out, the firefighter, or Lebron James?

What you are pointing out is the ethical flaw with this type of economic system, and economics doesn't really consider things like ethics/morals all that much.

No, they aren't overpaid.

@wolverine08: Ok, fair enough. Do you think they are overpaid from a logical or ethical standpoint? Not economical standpoint, but from a moral one.

Oh yeah, they're overpaid from a moral standpoint, and it is kind of unfair, but that's how economics/life is in general unfortunately.

It really isn't an issue of fair, however, I think you are arguing do they get overpaid for the level stress and value they actually add to society, then no. Their job certainly does have stresses--loss of privacy (you don't really have a personal life and you can't go anywhere without drawing attention to your self), health problems that manifest later on (ask any retired football player). However, is it a harder job than someone who deals with life and death on a daily basis?--No, it isn't. Do they add much societal value beyond entertainment?--Not much.

That is how markets work, though. Pay isn't based on job difficulty or societal value, it is based on how much a firm is willing to pay you for your services and what you amount you are willing to accept. The owner is willing to pay the ludicrous salaries to athletes because the athlete won't work for a lower amount and the owner is willing to give them that amount to bring them on to the team. That is how society works.

No more than other celebrities.

You can throw a ball. Fan-flipping-tastic, but I don't understand why people flock in droves and pay outlandish prices to see something they could do just about anywhere for free. At best an upper-middle class salary is deserved. Millions of dollars and being treated like Gods/Goddess for no worthwhile skill may be the norm and accepted, but I don't understand it and probably never will.

No. They give tons of people jobs. The vendors. the landscapers. the engineers. the construction crew ect....

and if people are so upset that they are making too much than they should boycot sports

They also give jobs to the Paparazzi. Which are entertainers and heroes as much as the athletes. :D Sorry, I have zero sympathy for celebrities that complain about the Paparazzi, the celebs chose that life. People demand to know where the celebs are at every second of the day and they simply supply.

They get paid as much as they should under the current economic/politic system, which only shows that current economic/politic system needs to be reformed. They certainly take from the society far more than they contribute.

No.

People are just jealous

Who cares, if you were getting paid I doubt you would say, "omg you pay me too much"

Please, Athelets work hard, and so do entertainers. If you're not part of their world you have no room to complain about what happens in it.

Yes.

How?

They put in a crap ton of work and most end up with major brain problems. They practically give up their lives to entertain the masses, they deserve to live well while doing it. That and most NFL players end up broke because they're god awful with money.  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

If you want to say that athletes are overpaid then what about the owners of these same pro franchises? They do a lot less work and make a lot more money plus if you cut athlete wages then you are for the most part just giving owners even more money. So the question really is do tv networks overpay for rights to broadcast and do fans overpay for tickets. On the former, most likely no while on the latter prob yes. Not to mention how most cities actually build these arenas then often essentially hand them over to the owners while also allowing the owner to then charge the same taxpayers who pay for the arenas an exorbitant amount for things like seat licenses and parking. So no, athletes only make so much because sports owners have a ridiculous system which they get to use to their own advantage.

Yes, way too overpaid. Especially since all they are being paid to do is throw a football or kick it around or shoot a basketball. Obviously, there's a ton more work that goes into that process, but they get paid more than the president. Its ridiculous that professional players will get paid more to lead their team than the president gets paid to lead the whole darn country.

Compared to people who work at essential jobs; Yes. But when considering the amount of money/profit their sports generate for the team owners, then I don't necessarily think the athletes (whom are essential to the sports) are overpaid.

So, since they put themselves in danger it justifies that they should get paid more? Not the way I would've put it, but if that is the case then military officials are WAAAAYYY underpaid.

@JetiiMitra: That's one way of taking what I said, not what I meant but I like your interpretation more.

They work for billionaires (i believe most team owners are billionaires or close to it), so it makes sense they get paid millions. And by spending their money and giving it back to the community or investing in a new project or something, which most highly paid athletes do in some form, is their way of giving back. Also having a millionaire in your city is great for the economy.

I don't think they're overpaid. The entertainment business is huge. Thad the type of money you make there.

If I was risking concussions and risking my health for people's entertainment I sure would want to get paid a lot of money

The buisness is too big... And that's why they get overpaid.

Pilasy:La Voix d'un homme

No the rest of the population is just underpaid.

Well they are some of the best in the world

Nobody should really have that much money, period, but people focus on athletes and celebrities' net worth way too much, what they have is a lot, no doubt, and it can seem unfair when you see the harsh lives many lead. But it's a drop in the ocean next to the wall street tycoons who are just sitting on billions and billions of pounds, numbers just beyond plausibility and are still greedily clawing for more, if itweren't so disgusting it would be hilarious.

At least sportsmen are working for what they get, often training hard and coming up from rough areas, what about motherf*ckers like the koch brothers? Just born to billions upon billions, not having a bad day in their life, it's boggling that people focus on athletes.

That said, they do have insane amounts of money, more than they deserve, or anybody deserves, except maybe if somebody save the world from a cosmic entity seeking to consume our planet or something, short of that, nobody should have these levels of wealth when we look at the world we live in.

However I have a very communistic outlook, true Communism though, not the false ones we've seen.

I used to feel that way but when I discovered the amounts of money owners were getting, I changed my mind.

Thats not even a questionable.

Yes. Their owners and the athletes are getting paid more than Soldiers who are risking their lives but then again it just proves how fu**ed up the US and honestly the world is

Yes. Doctors who actually make a difference in the world are paid less than athletes. SMH.

No, they aren't. It's about about supply and demands - and seeing as how companies such as the NFL is pulling in several Billions of dollars a year, then yes - athletes deserve a good chunk of the money because they are the REASON it makes as much as it does.

Yes, but it's just the world we live in and I don't think it'll change anytime soon. If the world went to complete sh!t tomorrow (for example, a zombie apocalypse), then everything would go upside down. Doctors, scientists, teachers, engineers, and people who know how to survive or defend themselves like soldiers would all be in high demand and highly regarded.