Does anyone else think professional athletes are disgustingly overpaid?

Question

Patrick Mahomes, the starting quarterback for the Kansas City chiefs has a contract that is worth over $500,000,000. That's a half billion. Meanwhile, there are professions like teachers, police officers, nurses, firefighters, who provide significantly more societal value who will never see anything like this in their entire careers. I get it. I understand the reason. Sports athletes produce billions of dollars of revenue annually, but still. Something about this just really doesn't sit right with me. At the end of the day, these guys are playing a kids game.

Chazmatazz269 · Accepted Answer

They are, but that’s a reflection of US values, more or less. I think “it’s a difficult job” is a ridiculous argument. You think any of them would rather be a cop or prison guard? Are those $30k/year jobs not difficult and dangerous? What about high skool teachers? They don’t get paid sh*t and they can get stabbed or shot by a kid or their parents on any given day.
Thousands of people DO die on the job every year. How many of them are football players? How many of those people get to leave their families MILLIONS of dollars, and how many families go bankrupt when the primary breadwinner gets injured or killed on the job?
Anyone who thinks that ANY professional sport is as difficult and dangerous as any of the top ten deadliest jobs in the US should just stuff their heads into a gas oven with the pilot light out.
Those are the same idiots, by the way, who will pay hundreds of dollars per ticket to go to a game, spend hundreds more on concessions and souvenirs, then go home and b*tch about the price of eggs or complain about unions protecting the salaries of workers barely making a living wage. Same clowns, mind you, who think a living wage is too much to pay entry level workers, but think it’s just “good business” for corporations to pay their board members MILLIONS to run a company into the ground, requiring a $700 BILLION bailout, and then the top execs take $40 MILLION golden parachutes and pawn their mistakes off on the next guys. Again, all while complaining about how much the people working on the lines are making, cuz their $24/hour is the problem.
They’re all selfish and stoopid, and the main reason why the rich keep getting richer and the poor keep getting poorer.

MrOracle · Accepted Answer

There are less than 100 NFL quarterbacks, and something like 32 starting quarterbacks, in the entire world, which means it's an incredibly rare and even more incrediby competitive job. For every person who makes it to that level, there are thousands who worked just as hard and as long but just didn't have the performance to make it.

Then consider that every game could result in a career-ending injury, an injury that could leave them permanently disabled.

The average NFL player has a career of 6 or 7 years if I remember correctly. That's not a lot of time to earn for a lifetime. And the high pay is also a reflection of the amount of money that the players earn for the league. Many other sports players earn FAR less, but that's because the league earns far less.

You could argue that Tom Cruise is overpaid too, but just like NFL players, Cruise sells tickets and makes big profits for the studios most of the time. Sports is also entertainment and has the potential to generate enormous amounts of money, and it's only fair that the people most responsible for that revenue make a good portion of it.

There's nothing wrong with earning a lot of money if you provide a lot of value. That's what they do. And I barely watch sports at all myself. The numbers can't be denied.

choco-latte · Accepted Answer

500,000,000 is exaggerated in my opinion. But anywhere from 20-100,000,000 is deserved, depending on the athlete’s abilities. They go through hyper-intensive training and dietary regulations, compete against other athletes who train at the same level or in some instances even higher than them, which makes competition way harder than it actually looks during games. They travel all the time and miss out important dates and quality time with family. Some of their natural talents are also truly unique and extraordinary.

Plus if the sport they play or team they represent is very popular, that by default brings in more revenue too, and allows for other side gigs like commercial branding etc.

FreyaRed · Accepted Answer

There is an industry for is willing to pay for them and their time. Generally I don't care if their business model doesn't exploit tax payers and it does often do in countries with state funded TV channel like UK, Poland or Germany. Because those state funded TV channels buy licenses for sport events with money they take from citizens in tax or special TV license fee. It's leads automatically to corruption and nepotism.
If such sport licenses buy advertisement funded channels I don't have a problem with that.

Levin · Answer

Some of these answers are odd.

I work full time and yet I still work out intensively many days a week. Working out and being in the best shape and health is just something that should be normal. I mean, I wish someone would have told me that I should be paid a million a month for it...

And I completely agree with you. And this is part of why I stopped watching football (soccer). A bunch of overpaid pansies rolling about on the floor for a million a month or more. The England national football team can't even be bothered to run around properly for 90 minutes. Absolutely pathetic.

It is disgusting. Health and social care workers here get £14 per hour - minimum wage for the most part. Around about £25k per year. Where is society's priority? These are looking after our elderly and our family. They always say 'we can't recruit health and social care workers'. Yes, because you pay them fuck all, dumb fuck. What do you expect? So they have to import the third world to do it as some kind of odd slavish underclass. I won't also get into the covid debacle where they took away their bodily autonomy, forcing them to get jabbed with some experimental soup for again, not even a wage they can live on. Disgusting once again, society is entirely debased. Shame on the people who advocate this, because hey, it is the market, apparently. They bring soooo much value.

NaultD · Answer

No

If anything they should be a role model of how wages Should be.

https://youtu.be/375M5YvTOvU?is=dvF4j6wmsucSVnuz

Even college sports where students with scholarships to go to college but the students had to go hungry while the coaches got sponsor deals and private jets.

https://youtu.be/pX8BXH3SJn0?is=8Ud9UPWnM4GVeiX6

The real question should be does commercial advertisement worth anything and company out bid each other because it is worth more then the billions paid. Seeing it on tv is more valuable then the means of making said thing. How goof is that?

Anonymous · Answer

“The average teacher in my home state of Oregon makes 63k per year. Lol. Not bad, but compared to Mahomes money, it's chump change” YES Right on the money.

Literally a lot of people have been saying this for years, not in terms of athletes alone of course. You have company executives, corporate directors, and so on who make $100,000 an hour as the everyday person doesn’t seen an increase to their minimum wage in decades barely getting by.

It is unfair and we should work towards a system that anyone can be a player in and can achieve greater. We don’t live in that system because it needs reforms after admitting it’s flawed and electing leaders (local and national) to get the job done.

purplepoppy · Answer

As others have rightly pointed out they train hard all week for that one game we see. Its a good point but does a soldier not train the same for that one battle he may not return from for a lot less pay.

spartan55 · Answer

NFL players are comparatively underpaid if you go by percentage of revenue. NBA and MLB players are making much higher salaries. There are more games played though.
I think considering what they put their bodies through NFL players earn every penny of their salaries.

BonzoInBitburg · Answer

It isn't the athletes fault that owners are willingly giving them that much money. As long as sports keeps generating outrageous amounts of money, owners will keep paying athletes outrageous amounts. If you don't like it, don't support it by buying tickets, tshirts and jerseys.

slatyb · Answer

I don't pay their salary. They are selling their service at the market price. The money comes from football fans, a little bit from a lot of people. What's the alternative? Setting a maximum price for tickets to games, concerts, movies? That wouldn't change the price of the tickets, that's set by supply and demand. Instead of going to the performers, the money would go to resellers.

Chayce · Answer

They're not playing a kids game. They're having 300lbs men running at them at full speed trying their hardest to cripple them. Plus, being an athlete means being in the gym everyday for years. Media commitments. look at all the people who make new years resolutions to get in better shape and last a month and go right back to living sedentary lives.

katiesmuff · Answer

I've thought that my entire adult life and for that reason don't spend a dime on anything related to professional sports including spending anything on TV to watch a game.

MrChinaski · Answer

Not knocking your teacher, but would you pay to watch the football coach at her school play? There's your answer.

It's a contest. You've got millions of guys trying, and 1696 on the NFL rosters, of which 32 are starting quarterbacks, of which maybe a dozen are good.

RachyRach · Answer

Perhaps. But they bring in so much revenue so it kinda makes sense. They're paid what they're worth to really wealthy owners

BadApple69 · Answer

Stop watching sports. They will stop being paid so much. Without viewership there is no money for these over paid clowns.

Staximus · Answer

Professional athletes are completely useless unless you’re a company that uses them to market merchandise

Anonymous · Answer

Maybe. But that money would just be flowing into a greedy owners coffers. It's not going to the workers in the stadium or the low peoplw on the totwm pole in the organization. So what's the difference. And football players really are putting their health at risk. Not like say, basketball players.

browsingthroughthe · Answer

Lol but celebrities and studio executives and richest executives elsewhere all make big bucks too 💵💰 some would say shouldn't the cast or crew get as much or more, shouldn't even the cleaner or janitor or caterer get a lot too?

Alex-Snow · Answer

You make a good point. As another example a firefighter gets paid less than 6 figures, but they risk their lives to save others.

Telekinetic-Potato · Answer

I think they get paid what they're worth and people just don't realize how much the value of our money has gone down or how broke they actually are.

lightbulb27 · Answer

Yes been going on long time. Few pro sports do I pay for.  i dont watch or participate in most. Generally i watch amateur or do sport myself.

exitseven · Answer

I think it is more an indictment on our whole society. People would rather live vicariously through celebrities that actually go out and do something with their lives.

jshm2 · Answer

No. The club makes at least three times that in his sponsorships and sales.  The players are just a product. They play for a few years, and suffer the rest.

msc545 · Answer

They are grossly overpaid, and that is one of the reasons I don't patronize sports at all and don't care about it.

Kelley1 · Answer

The market determines a person's value. If the market changes, the value may change.

Jersey2 · Answer

The greed in these sports has hurt families from attending especially the young ones… you know, the future fans.

ErasmusBAiken · Answer

You're allowed to earn as much as someone is willing to pay.

And just why is it considered 'greed' when you wish to keep what you earn and not 'greed' when you extort (aka tax) someone who has honestly earned it?

Maria1986z · Answer

Yes mean while teachers, military personnel should be ones getting paid what they being played.

JesseP1nk · Answer

If it is so easy. Why not you do it? Or those teachers, police officers etc.

blackeagle007 · Answer

I’m not saying it’s right. Thing is, it’s a high demand to see athletes or celebs preform. Supply and demand

Anonymous · Answer

yes the NBA , NHL NFL are some of the most entitled sports leagues ever

FrodoSkywalker007 · Answer

It's a bit insane they makes dozens more than the most powerful man on the planet

Smegskull · Answer

They aren't paid by you though so what do you care? OnlyFans models are a very similar phenomenon.

Just_Ken · Answer

Yes but where does the money come from?

Pretendingtobesweet · Answer

Yes they are dumb

RareBreedOfMan · Answer

Yes, way too much overly paid.

Anonymous · Answer

You seem jealous and insecure

Bklynbadboy12 · Answer

Nope the risk getting serious injured every game

canamlusciouslad73 · Answer

Yours Truly.

Does anyone else think professional athletes are disgustingly overpaid?

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