ANSWERS: 35
  • Grossly.
  • yes they are...i dont know why they get paid so much when there are people out in the world who do more they they do and dont even come close to making what athletes make. there are proffesions alot more important than sports. i just dont get it, i love sports and all but to me its just ridiculous. +
  • Ridiculously so ...
  • When athletes or even actors are payed more than the president and other important positions, theres a flaw somewhere.
  • Yes they are waaaaay overpayed. I am jealous.
  • Yes they are waaaaay overpayed. I am jealous.
  • Yes they are waaaaay overpayed. I am jealous.
  • Definetly! As well as Celebrities and Rappers.
  • Yes they are waaaaay overpayed. I am jealous.
  • Yes they are waaaaay overpayed. I am jealous.
  • I personally feel they are. Remember they aren't really paid to put a ball in a hoop, or to hit a ball with a stick, or for running really fast and hitting hard... they are paid for doing it really well, and drawing a crowd. The bigger the draw that athlete has the more pay he can demand. I think the whole think spun out of control, not on the part of the player demanding more money, but on the part of the team/owner for offering exhorbitive amounts. Everytime a team sets a new high for a salary, that sets a new precedence for the rest of the team. You will notice a trend of pays increasing rather than decreasing or remaining constant. If they could start over, I'm sure they would do it differently, but right now it's a snowball that has gotten out of control and can't be stopped.
  • Unfortunatley so. They get paid to go out and play a sport while the men and women of our military spend constantly put their lives on the line, yet the athlete makes more money than they know what to do with and our military personnel barely eek out a living.
  • NOOO!!! They've worked all there lives to stay in that shape & entertain you. They desrve that money & more.
  • There are two ways of looking at this. From a microeconomics prespective, they are not overpaid. They are paid what the market will bear and the skills they possess (at the professional level) are rare. Now, there are structural market distortions in pro sports that tend to limit downward pressures on salaries, but ultimately no owner is being forced to pay any athlete an exorbitant salary. From a broader societal prospective, yes, professional athletes are sinfully egregiously grossly overpaid. The ultimate good/service they provide is entertainment. Entertainment is nice, but there are many other modes of entertainment. And there are many other goods/services that society needs far more than entertainment. Unfortunately, professional sports has become largely financed by corporate and advertising money. This makes it difficult for us as a society to "vote with our wallet". If we want to deny athletes our money, we have to figure out which companies sponsor their TV broadcasts or purchase luxury boxes at the arena. Then enough of us have to quit buying goods/services from that company. This ends up resembling pushing on a string. At the moment, I can't think of a workable solution for this societal problem, other than quit watching.
  • yeah a little
  • Definitely! And what do they do with that money? They blow it on drugs and lawyers to cover it up!!!!
  • The people who lead this country, and the captains of industry get paid far less. I guess throwing a ball is more important than creating thousands of jobs. Also... We as fans drive this, so there is no one else to blame. If we all stop paying a ridiculous $80 per person to "borrow" a seat for 2 hours, it might go back to perspective. 4 people =$320 in tickets $250 in food/beverage. I could by a worn out, rusty old pickup and a case of beer for that kind of money.
  • Well, somewhere in the world, a physician is working for nearly nothing to help a poor patient who can't afford treatment but might die without it. Somewhere else, a teacher is trying to help create a better future by showing a child how to read and write. Meanwhile, a guy is getting paid millions of dollars a year to throw and catch a ball, something kids do for free.
  • In relation to what they actually do yes. No one works hard enough to "earn" that kind of money. In respect to how much money is in pro sports; they are getting only a small percentage of the total profits. If you look at it that way then they are just getting their fair share. I still think that it is utterly ridiculous to pay anyone that much money. One person can only use so much money, after all. I think that some of that wealth could be better spent on more helpful things. Maybe some of those profits could go for school programs in needy areas for example.
  • Yes, without a doubt they are overpaid in the US - not sure about other countries. We seem to place a lot of value on athletes' abilities and not as much value on teachers, policemen and women, nurses, etc. It's an interesting developement...
  • According to academic research on the subject in recent decades, star professional athletes are one of two occupational classes whose incomes have matched the increases of those of CEO's of publically traded corportations in the United States in the 20 years ending in 2001 (the other being movie stars). The consistent capture of returns for factor services in excess of the opportunity cost of capital is what economists have referred to as "economic rent". That is to say these individuals are being compensated for their services at a rate substantially higher than their costs involved in providing their services to the markets considering what risks they bear in the process. The fact that CEO's, actors and athletes and other "rent recipients" are being paid amounts so far above their costs of capital begs the question: is their compensation excessive? The answer is well...not necessarily. If a job needs to be done and only one person can do it then you have got to pay him what he asks, right? To the extent that the job can be done by other people there is market compition that drives prices down. To the extent that market conditions create high demand for such extremely rare skills, rents WILL be collected by those who possess such skills. The problem with this question is that it seems to focus on what is "right" or "fair" (whatever these words mean) more than it focuses on the simple facts of life. As to whether the owners of the teams that pay these athletes are returning THEIR cost of capital in the process of paying players these salaries, that's a whole different topic which (to my knowledge) hasn't been sufficiently explored. But either way, the fact remains that if the sports teams want to be competitive against each other they need to pay the piper and those costs are going to be high no matter what.
  • Magor League baseball players are, no question about it. Even if their playing career is relatively short lived they can make a ton on endorsements, appearances, talk shows etc. Triple AAA players on the other hand are fed peanuts and ride the bus every night.
  • Way to much b/c most of the athletes get paid more than the prez and even doctors who deserve more than they get.
  • No, not if you're the one coming home with a multi-million dollar contract... Also, they a heck of a lot more work than movies stars do...
  • yes..but the team owners are also make obscene amounts from fans...
  • definitly but im only saying that because im jealous of the money they make
  • yes they are way way too overpayed and it's quite rediculous. i understand they are professional, but the amount they get is way too much. considering all of the poverty there is, we could use the money in much more useful ways than paying millions to already millionaires. and for what?
  • Yes. Much too overpaid.
  • Obscenely ten millionfold too much.
  • yes a lot of them are. its just wrong.
  • They are only paid according to their commercial value to the club or stadium in which, or for which they are performing their sport. Yes it may seem as if they are overpaid for a few years but they have a short career, give up all personal life and are to a certain extent a slave of their club or manager. If they are overpaid good luck to them, if they perform well and give pleasure. It is really only a problem if they do not deliver. I would like to be one of their number.
  • absolutely!!!!but that's the game and they got it.
  • No they don't get overpaid. I don't see anyone bitching about the owners. So the athletes should basicially be slaves and get paid lower wages but the owners who put zero sweat or sacrifice YEARS off their lives get more money? No they aren't overpaid. As long as people pay what they pay to see them, they should be compenstated.
  • A few of them are. But many of them do deserve their pay. They work out hard, practice hard. They are also very prone to having injuries and worse, permanent physical disabilities.
  • Many are. It's ridiculous the multi-millions of dollars a lot of these people get.

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