Unpopular opinion time

"Scary__goongala!" (corymagee)
05/06/2015 at 16:15 • Filed to: None

It really bugs me how much most professional athletes get paid. I realize they put a lot of work into their skill and some sports are very prone to injury. However, at the end of the day we can live without sports unlike how we need doctors, soldiers, etc. Yes I have been an athlete up until starting college and the Mayweather/ Pacquiao fight is what made me think of this.

DISCUSSION (44)

Textured Soy Protein > Scary__goongala!
05/06/2015 at 16:17

Similar-but-different opinion:

College athletes should be paid.

bob and john > Scary__goongala!
05/06/2015 at 16:17

your not the only one who thinks this.

Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell. > Scary__goongala!
05/06/2015 at 16:18

Almost everyone agrees, but that’s just how capitalism works. It’s not about how important what you provide is, it’s how much money you stand to make your higher ups. A soldier makes their boss nothing, an athlete generally makes the team owner very rich.

Alfalfa Romeo > Scary__goongala!
05/06/2015 at 16:19

Unfortunately, it all just depends on how much revenue they bring in. A teacher isn’t directly making the state any money, and they are paid accordingly. People pay crazy amounts of money to see a professional athlete, so the athlete gets a good chunk of that. It’s not necessarily fair, but it is economically sound.

Rainbow > Scary__goongala!
05/06/2015 at 16:21

Technically we really don’t need soldiers. I mean, as long as other people have them, we need ours. But we - referring to all humans - would be better off without any of them. :P

But yes, I completely agree. By all means athletes should get a good salary, but it should be capped at $100,000/yr or so. That’s still way more than an average person makes, and all the other revenue from sporting events can go toward important stuff without raising taxes for individuals.

Frank Grimes > Scary__goongala!
05/06/2015 at 16:21

they got paid like a 100m or more each to fight but all they do is hug.

RallyWrench > Scary__goongala!
05/06/2015 at 16:21

I think that’s probably a pretty popular opinion, actually.

BrtStlnd > Scary__goongala!
05/06/2015 at 16:21

Don’t let it get you down, a great number of professional athletes end up bankrupt only a couple years after their careers end. Even some that have earned well into 9 figures.

They earn 95% of the money they’re going to make in their entire lives in a few years time.

Rainbow > Textured Soy Protein
05/06/2015 at 16:23

I think the revenue should go toward the schools, not the athletes. However, the athletes should be given full scholarships and free housing for as long as they contribute to the team.

Scary__goongala! > BrtStlnd
05/06/2015 at 16:23

Yup, but I think all it takes is proper money management to avoid. Many earn more in more year than normal folk earn their entire lives.

Scary__goongala! > Frank Grimes
05/06/2015 at 16:24

That fight was extremely disappointing.

BrtStlnd > Scary__goongala!
05/06/2015 at 16:25

Right. It’s difficult to avoid the “hey I made $4 million this year I should spend like I’m going to make $4 million every year” trap.

Hunter3203 > Scary__goongala!
05/06/2015 at 16:25

So who should get the money that sports generate? The owners? The networks?

We’re the ones who decide which sport is successful and which isn’t. It seems pretty fair that 50-60% of the revenue that’s generated in professional sports should go to the athletes themselves. They’re the ones that have spent a lifetime perfecting their skills and wear the scars from playing. Most will end up broke in the end with bodies that are old before their time.

Scary__goongala! > Alfalfa Romeo
05/06/2015 at 16:25

Yeah I understand why it happens and it makes perfect sense. I’m just not crazy about it haha

nFamousCJ - Keeper of Stringbean, Gengars and a Deezul > Scary__goongala!
05/06/2015 at 16:26

If you think that’s bad go look up how much PewDiePie makes for doing what he does.

Also he’s annoying as piss if you ask me.

itschrome > Scary__goongala!
05/06/2015 at 16:26

I do not like sport, I do not care for them at all. they bore me. I find watching them to be completely asinine. I think people spend too much time and effort on watching them, talking about them, and obsorbing ever little fucking detail about them. I think at the end of the day if every one spent half the time they waste on sports doing something meaningful and productive the world could be a better place.

That being said, I think the players deserve what they earn. it has nothing to do with effort or abilities at the end of the day. sure they are basically grown ass adults getting paid way too much money to play children games but sports earns tons of money and they deserve to get paid for it. salary caps only benefit owners. unless they wanted to cut costs on licensing, tickets, merch, ect so they generated less money I see no reason pro or even semi pro athletes should earn any less. it’s people paying to watch them, buy their merch, and ect that generates all that cash so why wouldn’t they be entitled to it?

while yes I see your point that soldiers get paid shit for what they do, same goes for any civil servant really. teachers, fire fighters, police, emt, ect.. but thats part of being a civil servant. Your serving your community and unless you want more taxes less money is the sacrifice they make to serve us. as for dr’s well fuck them, they make plenty. haha

Scary__goongala! > Hunter3203
05/06/2015 at 16:27

I don’t have an answer for that really. I understand how it all works and it makes sense, I’m just not crazy about it.

505Turbeaux > Rainbow
05/06/2015 at 16:28

like stadiums that taxpayers subsidize...

Scary__goongala! > itschrome
05/06/2015 at 16:30

It makes sense that the players make what they do because of how the whole system works. But as you said they are basically just playing a game for our enjoyment. It just erks me how much of our money goes to entertainment and not more important things.

BeaterGT > BrtStlnd
05/06/2015 at 16:30

Yep and this is a problem for many people, not just athletes. I make 3x the amount of money now than when I started and of course that means my spending had to rise as well...of course!

Scary__goongala! > Textured Soy Protein
05/06/2015 at 16:34

I can’t agree with this. Just because I believe they are being paid with free tutition, if they are receiving a scholarship. If a person only goes to college to make it to a professional league than they can settle with the fact they will make more than enough once they are there to compensate for not making squat during college.Many don’t have to stick around for 4 full years anyway.

SkyNet > Scary__goongala!
05/06/2015 at 16:34

First of all, thanks for making me have TVR’s on my mind for the rest of the day.

Second, I don’t disagree with you, but at the same time, I understand why athletes get paid as much as they do. At the end of the day, I view it as a product supply and demand. There is a high demand for athletes from people who want to watch sports. There is an even lower supply of professional level athletes than there are doctors, etc.

You can see this even among doctors. Your average urgent care general physician makes decent money, but not a ton of money. However, when you move up to the higher levels (Orthopedic Surgeons, etc...) they typically make more money. What’s crazy is that plastic surgeons make bank and, for the most part, they are probably at the level of most athletes when it comes to contributing to society.

I think most people of moderate intelligence could apply themselves, work really hard, and probably graduate from a medical school. However, most people, no matter how hard they work, can hit a baseball or box like Floyd Mayweather.

Once again, I’m not saying I disagree with your point but, unfortunately, most things are not valued based on their contribution to society or overall utility. I mean, Gold is great and all but Silver has a lot more practical application, Copper even more so, but compare the price and availability of the three.

itschrome > Scary__goongala!
05/06/2015 at 16:35

So don’t spend any of your money on entertainment. the system is not the problem, we are the problem. Our money only goes where we spend it (Minus how the government spends it but I’, not touching that can of worms). I don;t give any of my money to them, but thats a drop in the bucket when guys I work with have team hats, jerseys, car decals, nfl ticket on their cable, and on and on.. as long as those people exist so will the money to pay these guys.

Scary__goongala! > SkyNet
05/06/2015 at 16:37

Its Capitalism and the system works well that way. It makes sense why they get paid why they do, I just think its unnecessary in most cases. Its our money that they are paid with so its our fault for spending so much on what is just simple entertainment.

Scary__goongala! > itschrome
05/06/2015 at 16:38

I don’t mean we should spend none on it, I’m just by how much we spend towards it.

cornerslide > Scary__goongala!
05/06/2015 at 16:48

It’s an unfortunate economic fact that sports teams and leagues are privately owned. In their business the money is available or they wouldn’t be making it. They have risen to the top 1% of their profession. If you were to check you would find out that the top 1% in any profession make the top dollar that is available in that profession. I would agree that the money could be better spent but until sports teams and leagues become the property of the government they will operate just like any other business. No, I don’t know how long it would take the government to run sports into the ground.

Sir_Stig: and toxic masculinity ruins the party again. > Hunter3203
05/06/2015 at 16:51

That’s why I think companies should be required to buy back their shares once they reach a certain size and just focus on maintaining their current size. Once they reach a sustainable size they should basically turn in to a not-for-profit organization/ co-op.

Then again I’m pretty socialist so...

Saf1 > Scary__goongala!
05/06/2015 at 16:54

On a tangent athletes and celebs have multiple sources of income; the income stated in the press is always the total but often they make more from sponsorship deals than from their actual salary

Scary__goongala! > Saf1
05/06/2015 at 16:57

I know Tiger Woods made way more $$ through sponsors than he ever did playing golf.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > Scary__goongala!
05/06/2015 at 17:11

Whatever, but damn, that car is ugly.

Scary__goongala! > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo
05/06/2015 at 17:15

....um excuse me but U WOT M8!!!!!!

Saf1 > Scary__goongala!
05/06/2015 at 17:15

On another tangent which now runs parallel to yourOK SORRY Hugh Laurie made $500k per episode of House and honestly I believe he deserved it. There is absolutely no one I’ve seen who can play what would have been a very limited role in the hands of anyone else with such a range of subtle emotion whilst still staying true to the character brief. I mean each of those clowns (a bit harsh, but relatively speaking....) from Friends made $1m per episode even further back than House and they could not be more opposite! Then you look at football and you see the mastery of Messi, Buffon, Forlan (I know, I know) let alone the greats of the past and you realise they are irreplaceable ZIZOU. Yea other extremely strong players could also bring the team success but it is that overall power coupled with unique individual traits that made them so special...as essential as those jobs you mentioned are, there are millions of more-or-less same capability people able to do those jobs. Ofcourse if more kids had the opportunity to shine (not to say those athletes didn’t struggle v hard to be noticed) then there would be many more superstars but even so, they are much more unique. Total all the players of the top league of any international sport and they will be outnumbered by the number of [more typical profession] in your city!

Sam > nFamousCJ - Keeper of Stringbean, Gengars and a Deezul
05/06/2015 at 17:17

Just remember that he probably has several employees who help produce the videos. It isn’t quite as easy as you’d think and the money is split up amongst several others.

nFamousCJ - Keeper of Stringbean, Gengars and a Deezul > Sam
05/06/2015 at 17:32

he’s the top paid YouTube “celeb” at over $7mil a year.. even if he had a team of 20 to produce the videos he’s still doing pretty damn well for, again, being annoying as piss.

Sam > nFamousCJ - Keeper of Stringbean, Gengars and a Deezul
05/06/2015 at 17:37

He’s annoying, but very charitable and a nice guy. The only thing about him that really annoys me is that he perfected the formula before I could, because it’s pretty simple that yelling a lot = dolla dolla bills.

nFamousCJ - Keeper of Stringbean, Gengars and a Deezul > Sam
05/06/2015 at 17:40

The funky accent works too. But I will give him a thumbs up for being charitable.

Sam > nFamousCJ - Keeper of Stringbean, Gengars and a Deezul
05/06/2015 at 17:42

Yup. I watch a guy, Millbee, primarily because he has a sweet Welsh accent. Plus he’s really good at Mario Kart 8.

nFamousCJ - Keeper of Stringbean, Gengars and a Deezul > Sam
05/06/2015 at 18:22

I’m a fan of the Vanoss collection. A lot of GTA/CoD/Garrys Mod humor compilations. Pretty entertaining group

philsphan09 > Scary__goongala!
05/06/2015 at 19:05

Because Supply v Demand.

briannutter1 > Scary__goongala!
05/06/2015 at 19:27

I see it as just supply and demand. Going out on 15 limbs and accepting a lot of responsibility and high potential of failure and subsequent firing is part of it. I dont have a $1.5m skill or $150m skill, but when you are responsible to a large number of fans/shareholders, a .0000001% better performance can mean a lot. Most people wouldnt understand why any in rarified professions get paid as much, but a few do.

BaconSandwich is tasty. > bob and john
05/06/2015 at 21:19

Same.

BloodlessWeevil > Scary__goongala!
05/07/2015 at 07:51

Maybe you should learn a little more about economics. Also, does it not bother you that the owners of sports teams make a lot of money. Some (not all) pro athletes make a lot because they are worth that much to their employers (if you brought in millions to your employer you would expect to be paid well for it right?) It has nothing to do with skill or risk of injury, only how much the work is worth.

Hunter3203 > Scary__goongala!
05/07/2015 at 14:33

I think the area that Pro Sports gets wrong is the ballpark experience. I think virtually anyone should be able to afford attending such events at some time. That’s how you create the passion for the teams and the sport. But we’re leaving a HUGE segment of the population out of that. Who can afford to take a family of 4 to a NFL game? It costs hundreds of dollars for tickets and refreshments. The should be happy with the Billions they get from TV contracts and think more long term with their ballparks/stadiums.

Scary__goongala! > Hunter3203
05/07/2015 at 15:29

Very good point. I forgot about how expensive it still is to go see a game.