Why athletes get paid so much

You can imagine how much tickets cost for those events, and how much money will be spent eating our way through those trips. Many of us do a lot of these things without ever thinking about how much our entertainers are paid.

We work for our money, dammit, and spend it on things that make us happy. And the beat goes on. I long ago divorced from the idea that athletes, movie stars, musicians, and other entertainers and artists are paid too much money.

To think otherwise in this day and age is to blatantly misunderstand entertainment economics. Yet here we are, back in the never-ending cycle of revisiting the years-old question of the modern-day athlete and the gauge of their wallets. We keep paying. The Ben Simmons drama is the latest match to light the fire, apparently. Many pointed to that salary number — more than most people will see in multiple lifetimes — and scoffed. But those same people who called to complain on the highly rated and expensive-to-advertise-on sports radio morning show are the same people who buy tickets to games and pay double the normal price for a domestic beer.

In any other job, if you don't perform to your expectations, you're fired. There is no guaranteed money. The whole system that allows professional athletes to just swim around in money is simply ridiculous, and it needs to stop.

When asking people whether they think athletes are paid way too much money, most agree with me. Enjoy our content? Join our newsletter to get the latest in sports news delivered straight to your inbox! Physical injury can leave professional athletes handicapped or disabled for the rest of their lives; NFL players who experience multiple concussions can suffer from progressive degenerative disease that causes dementia and depression.

Additionally, while most teenagers or college-age students spend their free time studying, working or hanging out, student athletes aiming to qualify for the pros spend all of their free time training.

Professional sports is a money-earning business. Sports teams know that to stay profitable they need to win, which is why they sign the best players available. They make their teammates better, thereby improving the whole team think Tom Brady , Kevin Durant , and, of course, Michael Jordan , etc. This leads to more wins and, in turn, more viewers, more merchandise sold and increased brand worth. The amount of money that team owners are willing to pay franchise players often comes at the expense of the other players.

They also have the celebrity effect, which draws more paying fans in. Therefore, they deserve to earn more. Play Why do footballers get paid so much? How does this apply to the rest of the economy? Find out more What is money? How has money changed over time? You may also be interested in…. Back to top. Give your feedback. Yes, it was useful Yes. No, it wasn't useful No. Page Url. Is Mobile. IP Address. Operating System. What did you think of this page?