https://s22.postimg.org/cffb1snf5/showmethemoney_1024x553.png

In Part 1 I discussed several reasons why one could argue that Professional Athletes are not overpaid and that they make a market determined rate set by us, the consumer of their product. In Part 2 I'd like to go over some of the reasons that people say Professional Athletes are overpaid.

Remember these are not my personal views but some of the views I have encountered while researching the topic. I will let you, the reader, decide which side makes the best case.

Without further ado...

(Part 2) Professional Athletes are overpaid

1. They are entertainers, nothing more and nothing less.

https://cdn.pixabay.com/photo/2014/04/23/17/47/basketball-330709_1280.jpg

In the grand scheme of things, professional athletes contribute very little to society. Do they save lives? Do they cure diseases? Do they make your life easier in any measurable way? I think most people would answer "no" to those questions...

One could conceivably make the argument that professional athletes are role models for our youth and that contributes something, but I am not sure if them being looked at as role models is a good thing or a bad thing. All I can think of are the old Charles Barkley commercials when I read that... "I am not a role model..." but I digress.

https://s11.postimg.org/nlseaytj7/quote_i_m_not_a_role_model_just_because_i_dunk_a.jpg

Professional athletes don't protect us, feed us, or provide any tangible service for us beyond entertaining us. What is that worth? Apparently quite a lot...

By comparison the President of the United States, a pretty rare and important job some might say, makes roughly $400,000 per year including several expense accounts. The AVERAGE salary in the NBA this year will be over $5,000,000 with the median salary being $2,500,000. Keep in mind that we are talking about the average salaries here, not even the upper end... does that seem equitable?

2. They contribute almost nothing to society.

https://cdn.pixabay.com/photo/2012/07/11/07/47/bridge-52297_1280.jpg

This piggy backs off of point number one. Doctors save lives. Lawyers keep you out of jail. Accountants help you run your business that employs other people. Engineers design the bridge so you can get home from work quicker. The list goes on... What do professional athletes do? They entertain us... What is that worth? The market seems to say it's worth more than the teachers who educate us, the doctors who save us, and the electricians who keep us warm... How much more?

3. The vast majority make more money in a year than the average person will make in a lifetime.

https://cdn.pixabay.com/photo/2016/09/29/07/58/dollar-1702283__340.png

Just to give a little perspective lets take a look at the average salaries of some well known and community enriching jobs:

High School Teacher $47,000

Accountant $67,000

Engineer $68,000

Dentist $167,000

Doctor $190,000

Now lets compare those to the average salaries of the 3 major sports in the United States:

NBA player $5,000,000

MLB player $4,000,000

NFL player $500,000

Do things seem a bit skewed?

Just to give it a little more perspective, the amount of money Lebron James will make this year for each basket he scores will be roughly equivalent to what the average school teacher will make in an entire year...

https://s11.postimg.org/wz1zkjntv/lebron_james_money_261x300_display_image.jpg

Another thing to keep in mind when comparing salaries is hours worked. In general each professional sport has an off-season and a regular season. The NFL season only lasts 16 games. The NBA is longer at 82 games, while the MLB is longer still with over 100 games played per year. That doesn't include preseason and postseason games which in some cases can be close to 50% of the entire length of the season. However, most employer's don't give their employees an "off season". They work 40 hours per week every week, with a couple weeks for vacation. Therefore, on strictly an hourly basis comparison, the pay discrepancy between professional athletes and most other jobs is even more skewed...

4. Is it responsible to give this much money and power to 18 year old kids?

https://cdn.pixabay.com/photo/2016/07/09/08/58/responsibility-1505940__340.jpg

This is an important moral issue that doesn't get talked about much. What kind of effect does the money have on its recipient? There is an alarmingly high bankruptcy rate among professional athletes. In fact according to Sports Illustrated, 60% of retired NBA basketball players will go broke within 5 years of retirement... Let that sink in a bit. Over half of them will lose all of their money less than 5 years after retiring. Also, keep in mind they generally retire well before the age of 40...

There also is an alarming trend of multimillionaire athletes thinking they don't play by the same rules as the rest of society. There seems to be a new professional athlete caught in some kind of scandal every week, from assault to sexual misconduct, even to murder. When someone is told by everyone for their whole life that they can do whatever they want, they often times feel like they really can.

It is irresponsible of our society to entrust teenagers and early 20 somethings with this amount of money. Most are not fully developed as human beings at this point and many of them forgo school to reach these professional ranks, only furthering the lack of education regarding money problem. What does it say about our society as a whole when we have our valuations so distorted? We value the guy that can put a ball through a hoop better than most but barely give a second thought to the guy who teaches us mathematical principals that we will use for the rest of our lives...

5. Are economics and the free market really setting their prices or are labor unions?

In the previous post it was argued that pure economics are what has determined the price point for professional athletes and while that is mostly true it doesn't quite give us the entire picture. There are labor unions in all 3 of the major professional sports made up of players and former players. They set the wages they deem acceptable to work for and the owners either agree or reject their terms. Just recently there was a huge surge in NBA revenue because of massive TV deals that went into effect this year. The players rightfully want their share of that pie. One has to wonder though, what would happen if all of the sudden every person refused to watch their games, buy their merchandise, or go see them in person... is it possible that society could reset their price points? What do you think?

Are professional athletes overpaid or is it really all supply and demand? Let me know your thoughts in the comments section below.

As always, thank you for reading and here is your reward for getting to the end...

Live well my friends!

Sources:

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/slideshows/nation-world/perks-of-being-the-us-president/salary/slideshow/55327146.cms

http://www.basketball-reference.com/contracts/players.html

http://money.usnews.com/careers/best-jobs/accountant/salary

http://waltonian.eastern.edu/sports/are-professional-athletes-overpaid/

Image Sources:

http://www.xtgn.org/35048/show-me-the-money

http://www.azquotes.com/quote/18435

https://atheistsoundingboard.wordpress.com/2014/01/30/hard-work-dedication-why-athletes-deserve-every-penny-theyre-paid/

http://www.youtube.com

http://www.pixabay.com

Follow: @jrcornel

Are Professional Athletes Overpaid? (Part 2)