Pro Athletes’ Salaries
Yes!! Professional Salaries are Well Deserved
Adam Haygood
The University of Southern Mississippi
IDS 301
M. Sheehy
03/11/2012
Pro Athletes’ Salaries
Abstract
Professional athletes are among the world’s wealthiest individuals. People of the world
have different opinions on whether professional athletes deserve the hundreds of thousands of
dollars, and even millions, earned annually by participating in a sport that is considered a leisure
activity. A large majority of Americans grow up playing sports. Participation in the many
sports; baseball, basketball, football, golf, and soccer, have been available for all who wish to
participate in the United States for decades. Starting at 5 years old, kids have the ability to play
little league sports and learn the valuable tangibles of teamwork, dedication, and hard work.
Who would have thought that in today’s society where our nation is among a historic recession
that the select few who are blessed with the necessary skills and talent to be successful in the
sports at the highest level would also be a leader in average income? The richest of the rich in
our country are not the hardworking business persons anymore, but rather our star athletes. The
salaries of these athletes have grown considerable over the last 20 years who now make obscene
amounts for playing a sport that we grow up playing to keep us busy and to make new friends.
In all this, there is one debating point that people argue; are professional athletes deserving of the
large amounts of money simply because they are well-prepared players, who people can admire,
and have the ability to entertain a huge percentage of the world’s population. Yes! We cannot
separate professional athletes from other celebrity entertainers for taking advantage of the
opportunity become successful in something that every kid dreams about growing up. Sports are
an international language that no matter what country, age, ethnicity, or financial class, is
understood strictly by the rules of the game. Baseball in America is the same exact game as
baseball in China. Although when growing up as a kid, the money is not the reason why each
and every one of us wanted to become the famous all star athlete, but we cannot blame the ones
Pro Athletes’ Salaries
Abstract
who are giving the opportunity to provide a luxury lifestyle for their family by doing something
that they love. I don’t believe anyone would turn down a six digit salary for playing a game.
Therefore, throughout my research on athletes’ incomes, I feel that they deserve every dollar
offered.
Pro Athletes’ Salaries
Introduction
Growing up in South Mississippi, I have always been hooked on sports and competition.
I attended Pascagoula, Mississippi where I participated in every sport available. Having two
older brothers, the rivalry around the house was fierce. The youngest of three children I always
thrived on trying to beat my brothers in one on one competition. As I grew up and attended high
school I played baseball. After graduating, I was fortunate enough to take my abilities to a
higher level and attended Meridian Community College where I played for two years. Although
I was not the most talented baseball player on the squad, I was able to experience and play
amongst premier athletes from all over the country, some of whom are currently playing
professional. As my reign in junior college came to an end I chose to attend the school that as a
kid grew up supporting. The University of Southern Mississippi gave me the opportunity to
pursue another route in the world of professional sports. My initial major at USM was Sport
Management. I was able to learn the business side of sports; marketing, management, and
legalities that make up the big business machine that annually generates hundreds of billions of
dollars. As time passed I was giving the opportunity to take a job in the insurance business. I
moved back to my hometown on the coast of South Mississippi and transferred to the Gulf Park
campus located in Long Beach, MS. Unfortunately the Gulf Park campus does not offer Sport
Management as a major, so I was forced to switch to Business Management. All the while
working full time and gaining as much knowledge as possible to prepare myself for life as an
American businessman. This past summer when meeting with my advisor to get signed up for
Pro Athletes’ Salaries
Introduction
classes, she proposed the idea of changing my major again to Interdisciplinary Studies. IDS
gave me the ability to join the two majors together concentrating on Sport Management and
Business Management, comparing the two fields and giving me the opportunity to mesh my
interests in both. Presently bringing me to provide research on a topic that is often discussed
pertaining to the enormous salaries earned by professional athletes. Professional athletes are not
overpaid.
A huge amount of people have animosity towards the fact that professional athletes make
so much money annually. On the other hand teachers, soldiers, scientists, and many other
respected people, who make great contributions to our society, do not get paid much. So many
people come to the conclusion that athletes do not deserve what they earn. However, I feel that
salary does not define the intrinsic value of an occupation. Economically, professional athletes
do deserve the fat pay checks. Sports today are a BIG BUSINESS. There are a lot of people
who make a living strictly from spectators attending professional events. Real Madrid soccer
club of the Deloitte Football Money League earned $592 million dollars in the 2009-2010
season. If I worked for a company that featured a roster of 20 members and generated hundreds
of millions each year, I would want a portion of that. After all, it is the players that are creating
the fan base and die-hard following that contributes to the enormous revenue. According to
statistics, back in the 1990s Michael Jordan alone brought more than $10 billion income to the
economy annually. So the fact that Michael Jordan earned several million a year does not seem
absurd at all. Great professional athletes are scarce. Compared to other professions such as
teachers or lawyers, it is the mental dedication alone to pave the avenue for success.
Pro Athletes’ Salaries
Introduction
In professional sports, it takes commitment to both the mental and physical aspects,
therefore creating a lower population compared to other professions. So the few people who are
not blessed with the prototypical 6’7 frame but have the skill to make it in the NBA do deserve
the high salary. Zachary M. Jones, an attorney at Howard University in Washington D.C., says
“Superstar athletes are few in number, so the demand is high, which raises the price for their
services significantly” (Saporito 61).
Before doing an in-depth analyses of pro sports salaries, one may think that these salaries
of way to high. However, sports salaries are worthy to be enormous. This is because high
salaries show that the economy and sports revenue are up, because the owners are paying the
athletes with money that the organization in generating. After Glen Taylor, general manager for
the Minnesota Timberwolves of the National Basketball Association, signed “upcoming
superstar Kevin Garnett, season ticket sales more than doubled” (Aschburner). Bringing in new
faces to franchises can re-vamp a fan base. It is amazing that signing one player can cause such
a frenzy that revenue generated strictly from ticket sales doubles due only to the excitement of
having an individual player. Of course, the last quarter century has seen a dramatic rise in
franchise and player values, but evidence of high player salaries can also be found dating back to
1923, when baseball legend Babe Ruth became the first player ever to earn $50,000 a year- a
princely sum for that time, worth about $390,000 in 1999”(Rushin,S 2000). When Ruth was told
his salary was even more than the U.S. President’s Ruth replied “Well, I had a better year than he
did.” Today, even players who “have lousy years stand to make more than the President, and
well more than the average fan could expect to make in a lifetime” (Freedman,J 2009). Some
people wonder how athletes are worthy of all those zeroes at the end of paychecks, but according
Pro Athletes’ Salaries
Introduction
to Gerald Scully, economics professor at the University of Texas at Dallas and author of The
Business of Major League Baseball, “sports talents are so rare that they need to draw a very high
price. Without their special talent, many athletes would yield earnings comparable to what the
average person makes” (Freedman,J 2009). But are sports stars really worth their huge salaries?
Scully says, yes. “Most players who receive high salaries contribute even more revenue to the
team,” he says. Talented players will improve the teams chance of winning, winning leads to
more ticket sales, more hot-dog sales, more cap and T-shirt sales, more parking revenue, more
TV viewers, more radio listeners, more advertising, and a greater chance at winning the
championship which means even more games, with more tickets and other things to sell all over
again.
Sports salaries have sky rocketed in the past 25 years. Professional athletes have moved
from six figure salaries to nine figure salaries in what seems like a snap of a finger. Michael
Jordan for example got paid just under $35 million a year not counting endorsements. To make
that a little easier to comprehend he was getting paid “$12,500 a minute played and almost
$40,000 a jump shot. This is a ton of money and if we are to include the endorsements he
received from Nike, Gatorade, Hanes, Ballpark Franks, Jordan shoes and clothing, Rayovac
Batteries, and Michael Jordan cologne, he made about one million dollars per game”(Rushin).
Although I firmly agree with star players being well deserving of their salaries, there is
one point I found through research that people might argue. What about the player that makes
the large sums but do not contribute statistically to the teams’ success? For example in 1996
“Bill Wennington of the Chicago Bulls received around 750 thousand dollars, for merely sitting
Pro Athletes’ Salaries
Introduction
on the bench because his average playing time per game was around 4 to 7 minutes, plus
expenses paid. I feel if a franchise is offering to pay one a certain sum of money, then no matter
how he performs or how deserving he is in the eyes of spectators, that athlete did what was
needed and is much deserving of the salary.
Pro Athletes’ Salaries
Statement of Research Topic
Are professional athletes over paid? Are they deserving of the increasing salaries each year?
Pro Athletes’ Salaries
Literature Review
During the review process I found lots of interesting statistics and examples of revenue
generated from professional sports. One specific article provided a list of each National Football
League team along with the total payroll and average annual salary per player. Topping the list
in 2009-10 was the New York Giants with a total payroll of $138,354,866 and $2,470,622 per
player. At the bottom of the list was the Kansas City Chiefs with a total payroll of $81,829,650
and an average $1,410,856 per player. As shown NFL franchises spend a ton of money each
year just on players’ salaries.
Another interesting fact found during research was for a WNBA player in the 2005
season, the minimum salary was $31,200, the maximum salary was $89,000, and the team salary
cap was $673,000. For NBA players in the 2004-2005 season, the minimum salary was
$385,277, the maximum salary was $15.355 million, and the team salary cap was $46 million.
The difference in league minimum salaries due directly to gender was over $350,000. I knew
that the male sports dominated the fan market but I could not believe the difference in league
minimum salaries.
American professional sports leagues have a $25-35 billion dollar revenue. It is easy to
see why many people want to be a critic of famous athletes for making so much money when the
average annual salary for an American is around 35,000 dollars. When you compare this to the
bare minimum salaries of leagues (NFL-285,000 NBA-385,000 MLB-400,000 NHL500,000), average Americans have every right to be envious, but nothing more. The incredible
work ethic of any professional athlete is absolutely unsurpassed. They are the best in the world at
what they do, and that doesn’t come from just shear ability. They hone their skills every single
Pro Athletes’ Salaries
Literature Review
day until it becomes second nature to them, then; they continue to work to stay at their peak
performance. Although they are the most physically fit people in the world, there is a constant
pressure to keep your production level as high as possible, because thousands are always fighting
their hardest to fulfill a life-long dream to be a part of the elite.
Pro Athletes’ Salaries
References
Anderson, W. L. (2000). In Praise of Athletes' High Salaries. Human Events, 56(33), 19.
Biderman, D. (2009, August 25). How Long Does It Take an Athlete to Make $100,000?.
Wall Street Journal - Eastern Edition. p. D6.
Biderman, D. (2009, July 9). Just Like Wall Street: NBA Salaries Trimmed. Wall Street
Journal - Eastern Edition. p. D8.
CLEGG, J., & CULLISON, A. (2011, August 24). Sports Has a New Salary King. Wall
Street Journal - Eastern Edition. p. D6.
Clemons, V. (1996). Are athletes' salaries too high?. Ebony Man, 12(1), 48.
King, P., & P., K. K. (2006). Free for All. Sports Illustrated, 104(12), 111-112.
Rushin, S. (2000). What's It All About?. Sports Illustrated, 93(7), 21.
Jones, T. (2007, August 27). There's no sense in crying over bonus babies. Sporting News.
The NFL Economy. (2011). Newsweek, 158(12), 27.
Torre, P. S. (2009). How (and Why) Athletes Go Broke. Sports Illustrated, 110(12), 90-101.