For years, athletes in professional sports have not only achieved fame but they have also earned considerable paychecks. While the sports sector is known to allot large salaries to its athletes, are these sports players overpaid?
The answer is not easy, but if you ask me, I think athletes are paid what they deserve.
No matter what sport it is, professional athletes still pay taxes on what they make.
“While the highest paid athletes draw more attention, the truth is that most athletes are fairly paid. Plus, we tend to forget that published professional athletes’ salaries are gross salaries … Aside from federal, state and city taxes and pension, which everyone pays, players also need to pay agent fees, a $10,000 union due, and a Jock Tax for each of their away games, among others,” according to The Perspective.
But why do they make so much money in the first place? A large factor is the demand for professional sports around the nation. If something is of high value, then people are willing to pay more for a specific thing. That’s why houses, cars and phones cost so much.
The same can be said for sports since they play a large role in modern society. People invest money into teams via merchandise, game tickets and in intangible ways such as following players on social media. Popular teams with large fan bases, like the Green Bay Packers or Los Angeles Lakers, have the added benefit of revenue coming in from fans. This sort of investment gives those teams and subsequently their players a boost in their salaries.
Not to mention, TV deals and sponsorships look for this kind of traction and will pay a pretty penny for those athletes to appear on their streaming services or to wear sponsored brands on and off the field. The Athletic touched on this topic briefly back in 2020.
“So while some fans may bemoan the immense contracts, it’s ultimately fans that generate the money to create those deals — they’re willing to put their cash behind their team loyalties and to see elite talent perform.”
In many ways, it has become a business, no matter what sporting league it is. General managers, team owners and even cities pour vast amounts of money into their flagship team. One of those reasons is to secure the best players they can possibly acquire.
Another reason they invest so much money is that they rely on those teams to generate revenue for the city. The flow of money does not just benefit the team or the players, but also the town.
If a star athlete has a major following, then coaches and teams will especially keep them on the roster so people will keep investing in the player, the team and ultimately the city. In order to secure and reward a star player’s stellar performance, coaches will also raise their salary to encourage the player to stay.
So, even though it sounds odd for a person whose sole job is play a sport with a bunch of adults to make millions of dollars, it makes sense in the grand scheme of things and that is the bottom line.
Warden is the opinion editor for the Liberty Champion.