Do athlete's get overpaid or paid enough?

[WhiteSteve]

Depends on the sport, depends on the particular athlete.

Bottom line: people pay big money for entertainment, and certain sports generate a ton of revenue, between ticket sales, tv contracts, advertising revenue, team apparel and souvenirs, stadium concessions, etc, etc. So relative to the amount of money a major sports franchise brings in, the players are probably actually UNDERpaid. It may not seem commensurate to the actual contributions they make to society, but it’s the same as actors or musicians. They aren’t curing cancer, but people value the entertainment they bring to the table, and after our basic necessities and bills, that’s where a lot of many people’s money goes. So the majority of the money still stays in the team owners’ pockets, you could argue that they’re REALLY overpaid, since they aren’t even the ones with the world-class skills people pay to watch. But the guys who play (obviously women play sports as well, but they don’t typically command nearly the same money, just because they don’t generate the same interest in the general public. That’s probably a whole other conversation, haha) are the whole spectacle, so they deserve the lion’s share of the revenue, collectively, whatever that revenue is. If people stop following sports as much as they do, those salaries would decrease relative to the decreased interest and revenue.

In the sense of skills and scarcity of those skills... the worst player in the NFL/NBA/NHL/MLB is still one of the best in the world. So you can’t just replace them
with some bum off the street without a decrease in the quality of the product, i. e. the team’s performance. So really, it’s not much different than like a brain surgeon or something, in that not just anyone can do it, so that just gets dictated by supply & demand.

[Liam_Hayden]

Overall they are underpaid compared to what a free market would allow. Why?

Drafted prospects are usually paid on a "take it or don't play" scale based on their draft position irrespective of talent or value. If you are drafted by an NFL team then for a set number of years you get paid by scale and are controlled by that team if you want to play in the NFL. after that there are various franchise tags that also can limit a player to below market value contracts

In MLB, players are controlled in general by the drafting team or team to which they are traded till they accrue about six years of MLB experience. That is why players like Mike Trout in his earlier years and Aaron Judge now make far less than they would on the open market.

Other limitations are salary caps or luxury taxes. A salary cap limits the amount a team may pay players collectively with some exceptions. A limit on how much a team is permitted to pay, or a penalty if they exceed that, will both put downward pressure upon how much players can make. If you think a player is worth $20M per season but only have $15M in cap space, you can only offer $15M. Or in MLB if you think he is worth $20M that would put you over the luxury tax limit, you have to add that into the cost. An extra 20% tax would mean that he is now costing you $25M if you offer the $20M, so you might instead offer $16-2/3M so that the salary plus luxury tax = $20M. That penalty ends up costing the player $3-1/3M per year.

[MasRus]

Okay so before I even get started on details for every dollar they pay us they earn at least 10,000 that alone is enough proof to say athletes deserve what they get paid.

as a college athlete and the hrs of work and wear and tear we put on our bodies not to mention the amount of people counting on our success and the stress it brings.

We have to maintain grades as well as performance on the field or we could lose our scholarship.

the amount of people who watch us and criticize are every move from our performance to our attitudes to what we wear how we eat to how we train.

We are expected to maintain public appearances and obligations to satisfy sponsors and college advertising to help them make money.

We travel throughout the country to compete against the best in the world.

and how we have sponsors we have to satisfy.

And it's not just while we compete but 24/7 365. my current teams sponsor will not allow us to be seen in anything but their brand.

and knowing that once we go pro and will work even harder and expectations are even higher and obligations far more. pay is well earned.

[DeeDeeDeVour]

Factoring out comparisons in earnings from stadium spectator attendance & television sales, people might consider a fully-geared, well-protected American football player overpaid compared to their vulnerable, under-geared rugby counterparts who many claim aren't paid enough.

[jessicarosen]

I think pay depends on the market. For a lot of sports, there are only one or a few leagues (NFL, American football). So, whatever the market pays, since there is one professional league... not dissing the CFL, XFL, etc. - but the pay is going to be high because the number of spots available is very low. As a result, the pay is very high.

I'm not saying being an athlete is an easy job. It's not. But for millions and millions of dollars, I think they are well overpaid. I would not consider them "essential" to the operation of countries or to the world. Look at right now, the sun still rises and sets every day, despite that many sports leagues are on-hold and athletes not playing.

Risk of injury? Yes, athletes are subject to injury every play on the field. But you know what? So am I. I work as an operator at a chemical plant. I load rail cars and trucks all shift. Guess what? I'm around many hazards and I could easily get hurt, fall, get hazardous chemicals splashed on me, get hit by moving rail cars, etc. Look at medical field personnel, nurses and hospital workers being exposed to the corona virus. They can get terribly sick or die. WE are essential, if there are no chemical plants, oil refineries or hospitals, the world would be in a very dangerous spot. Much more dangerous than it is without sports and entertainment right now.

[That1tallguy]

I don't get how some people don't understand how the world works. It's not who you think is more valuable or who contributes more to society. It's simple supply and demand! The top athletes make millions because millions of people pay to watch them play. Add on stadium tickets, tv streams, sponsors, merch, royalties etc. If a good portion of that money doesn't go to the players where do you think that money will go? The players brought in the money and deserve the money because different companies choose to pay them for the benefits of both parties.
Sure doctors save lives but they don't bring in the same revenue plain and simple. A huge other factor which surprises me that people don't realize is if doctors we're paid a contract of 10 million a year how much do you think medical bills and insurance would go up? It would be impossible to pay for. Besides they don't get paid chump change. Doctors could be making 400k a year that's enough money to become rich in a couple years.

[RandD4Ever]

overpaid all they do is throw a damn ball around a court or field and get paid millions for doing so while you have doctors and nurses and police and firemen and military personel who put their lives on the line each day and don't get a fraction of that kind of money. It just goes to show you how fucked up our society really is. Work hard in school to be a doctor or nurse and be surrounded by constant bad debt and barely able to make ends meet. Play a sport in school get a scholarship and get a job in the pros and make millions what a fucked up society we live in

[TienShenhan]

The pay is about right, the amount of training and effort required to operate at an elite level costs a lot of cash and the competition is stiff. The sad part is no amount of money can fix brain damage, and installing new rules to keep players safe plays a part in ruining what makes the sport so fun to watch. I stopped watching the NFL because I'm against the morals of a criminal organization that was listed as non-profit until 2014. The illegal gambling will always leave the door cracked for rich people to pay off refs and officials to sway the outcome of games in order to win their bets. On top of that, a man can get away with rape, assault, torturing and killing animals, all because he can throw or catch a ball better than anyone else. Thatbullshit needs to stop before I ever consider supporting the NFL again.

[Anonymous]

They shouldn't be paid anything in my opinion. They should be happy just to be able to play professionally. The disgusting amount of money they make should instead go to teachers, police officers, etc. ...

[Underworld158]

They risk getting brain damage for chasing a ball so no

[OddBeMe]

In a free market economy, the demand for pro athletes is higher than others. I’m just hoping we’ll one day demand higher teacher salaries.

[Cherokeehp]

They throw a fucking ball and make more money than doctors and teachers. They are definitely over paid.

[drayday4]

Probably underpaid if your talking about the stars overpaid if talking about role players you only deserve what you generate if 15 guys and a coach can generate a billion dollars then they should get a large portion of it

[888theGreat]

Too much, and they get raises even when their stats take a dive

[Anonymous]

overpaid. they're basically a bunch of apes fighting over a banana

[Cryptic-Game]

Mostly overpaid. There are times some are underpaid.

[A_lady_A]

based on their countries it's different

[coffeewithcream]

If the team will pay it, take it.

[ecfresh]

Paid enough

[swashdeadlove]

Depends on sports,

[Iron_Man]

Yes they do

[dudeinohio]

Way overpaid.