ESPN Salary Crunch

[-kj]

I think his point is that players will sign a contract for X years at Y amount. They then will decide, during the term of that contract, that Y is not enough. They want Y+Z. So they withhold the services they are bound to supply by that contract because the team doesn't want to change from the Y that player agreed to.

The amounts may be high, but that's how it goes. When players hold out to get more money even though they're currently under a contract that they signed, that seems off.

[DelayedPenalty]

I think it has always been a hot debate, professional athletes worth vs. a doctor, or a teacher, or a lawyer, which is more important? Saving lives, or hitting a baseball? Seems like a no brainer to me. Now, can a doctor be paid $161 million to save lives? No, the hospital doesn't have that kind of money because they don't have ticket sales, merchandise revenues, food vendors, licensing agreements, video game contracts, etc.

Sports are just like eBay, whatever someone is willing to pay is what the auction will go for. Ridiculously high amounts of money for someone to play a game. Which is also why I hate when athletes hold out on their contract to get more. Why? $6.5 million a season isn't enough for you to run around 16 times a season and catch a football? That doesn't support the lavish lifestyle you've become accustomed to? you you selfish son of a bitch!

:headdesk:

You had me until you completely went off the rails here.

How am I off the rails?

Payscales are determined by scarcity of the job being performed, the performance in the course of the same, and the amount of revenue they bring in. We have thousands upon thousands of teachers performing at a variety of levels bringing in minimal revenue to their schools. However, for those thousands upon thousands of teachers, there are only a small handful of people who can be professional athletes at a higher level, whilst generating much revenue for their teams. The market says that both are being paid commensurate to what they contribute; therefore there is no injustice.

/There's no money in helping society.

Touché, but still very sad, and disheartening.

[OnWis97]

I've turned quite a bit on this issue. Historically, I have decried greedy athletes. But the following points, many of which have been pointed out, have calmed me a bit.

1. I wish other businesses gave their non-CEO employees the piece of the pie they deserve for making the company work the way MLB does.

2. (and insight into why #1 does not happen). Athletes have a special skill. You cannot just release an overpaid Cy Young winner and get the same production by putting an ad in the Sunday paper. As an urban planner, I know I am quite replaceable (and therefore not able to push the envelope much on salary) by many of the 100 people that would apply for my job right now if I left. Adrian Peterson? Not so much.

3. The salaries are a function of the market. Until people stop following sports the way they do, there will be a lot of ticket/TV/Merchandise revenue. If it turns the fans off, it will reduce the ability to pay salaries a great deal.

4. We always talk about teachers, firefighters, doctors, etc. because it's easy to point to them and say they are more important and tug at peoples' emotions. However, it is in all practicality impossible to pay these people a great deal more than they make. As Charger said, he did not become a teacher to get rich anyway. Noble professions? Sure. But the world/market simply cannot pay them all 7 figures. So what does that mean? Should athletes get five figures? How would that happen? In other words...it is what it is.

5. Why is it that you almost never hear complaints of the huge amounts of money made by entertainers? It's appalling in sports but OK in movies/TV/music? Hell, we (the greater we, not me) celebrate their excessively lavish lifestyles.

Because it is what it is, I have a choice on whether to accept it or to ignore sports because of it. I've chosen to accept it. Holdouts are the only time my thoughts get even close to tuning out. I do wish that they'd accept the deal they made and play it out. I'd like to think that's what I'd do, particularly for 7-figures. Even then, in football I am more accepting, given that the teams are not required to abide either and they tend to cut people after their bodies have broken down for the team (Eddie George).

If it were up to me, they'd make less because ticket prices would be less and advertising would be about cut in half in arenas and on TV. They'd make a nice salary, due to their special skill, travel, and lost anonymity (a problem teachers, etc. don't have), but not be set for life just for being drafted in the first round. But that's not where the market is.

In short, they may not "deserve" (morally speaking) huge salaries. So you either have to get past it or find another distraction.