High salaries in sports

[Joel]

I just don't understand the lack of understanding of simple supply and demand that some people have. I frequent another forum which is NHL related, and it's the free agency period in the league. All the teams are trying to sign players, and bring the big stars to their team. Of course, with this comes the grumbling from fans about "owners can overpay these players and just jack up ticket prices to cover the loss".


And who's fault is that exactly? That's right, it's your fault Mr. Hockey fan. If nobody went to NHL games (insert "nobody cares about hockey" joke here), ticket prices wouldn't be "jacked up". I just don't get why it's such a difficult concept. Skilled sports stars are a rare commodity, and the managers of 30 teams are trying to get some of the skilled players, so they have to pay top dollar. The demand is higher than the supply, so the skilled players are paid lots of money.


Sticking with the hockey example, there's a huge demand for Alex Ovechkin, but not much supply, so he gets 9 million bucks a year. On the other hand, there's a huge supply of the fourth line grinders, but not much demand. This is why these players get "only" 500k a year.

Again with supply and demand in regards to ticket prices, there's a huge demand for tickets to Montreal Canadiens games, but not much supply. Ergo, the prices are "jacked up". To sum it up, if you're a disgruntled sports fan who is unhappy with the salaries and ticket prices, go watch another sports league. Personally, I'll stick with the NHL.

 

[mafia_boy]

Compared to some sports (ie. Kobe in Basketball, Beckham in Soccer, A-Rod in Baseball), paying $9M for Mr.Ovechkin is a drop in the water. But I don't have to go and watch another league when they show the best games on TV anyway, which is free for the most part unless you're using PayTV.

 

[Joel]

Compared to some sports (ie. Kobe in Basketball, Beckham in Soccer, A-Rod in Baseball), paying $9M for Mr.Ovechkin is a drop in the water. But I don't have to go and watch another league when they show the best games on TV anyway, which is free for the most part unless you're using PayTV.

Yeah, I was just using it as an example because of the free agency period right now (it's the NBA's too if I'm not mistaken).


I do the same, I watch all the games on TV, and I fully accept and acknowledge that in doing that, I'm in a small way responsible for a hockey player making 5 mill a year. Doesn't bother me in the slightest.

 

[Omnis]

Yeah and in the NFL there's a funny thing going on right now where the Dolphins just signed two players for 50mil each for 5 years.

Frankly, who cares what players make? That's a very taboo subject within the sports world. You never talk about another guy's contract.

 

[niky]

I feel much the same way... yeah, they're being paid ridiculous amounts of money... but if that's what it costs to build a competitive team that fills seats and sells advertisments on the tube... that's what it costs.

-

Oh, if only I were blessed with good genetics and extra two feet of height...

 

[Mark T]

My only problem with the high player salaries is that those costs increase the price of tickets and merchandise for the every day fans.

It also annoys me especially in the English Premier league when clubs have vast amounts of debt yet still offer out huge salaries. It's a vicious circle though, if they don't have the best players they'll find it hard to compete with the bigger teams which in turn lowers revenue.

The penalties in the English Premier Leage for a club going into administration are high, they start the next season with a points deficit which only adds to more revenue loss due to the threat of relegation.

I don't know what sort of debt levels are in American sports but Manchester United have debts of over £1.1bn. Fair enough, the Glazier family of assets of £2bn, but it's still a scare thought considering the economy is still very unstable.

 

[niky]

I could do a hell of a lot of partying with £1.1bn. And still have money left over to run dozens of football clubs (not very good ones, but still...)...

 

[DK]

Don't forget about Cristiano Ronaldo. Part of his contract for Real Madrid is that his wages increase each year, and by the last year of his stay at Real Madrid he'll get c.€500,000 per week. That is, quite frankly, a lot of crap.

 

[Joel]

Don't forget about Cristiano Ronaldo. Part of his contract for Real Madrid is that his wages increase each year, and by the last year of his stay at Real Madrid he'll get c.€500,000 per week. That is, quite frankly, a lot of crap.

Why? Players like him are in high demand, and there's very little supply, so the price is high. I don't understand why it's a lot of crap. If Real Madrid wants to pay him that much money, more power to them. They obviously feel that this high price is worth his performance on the field (whether or not it is, I don't know, I don't really follow soccer).

 

[Greycap]

I don't understand why it's a lot of crap.

Regardless of how you look at it, half a million a week for kicking a ball is a lot of crap. That's 3000€ an hour - including all the hours he's sleeping or sitting on the couch. For kicking a ball. And fishing yellow cards, a lot.

 

[Danoff]

Regardless of how you look at it, half a million a week for kicking a ball is a lot of crap. That's 3000€ an hour - including all the hours he's sleeping or sitting on the couch. For kicking a ball. And fishing yellow cards, a lot.

That's what the fans are willing to pay to see him to do that.

 

[Joel]

Regardless of how you look at it, half a million a week for kicking a ball is a lot of crap. That's 3000€ an hour - including all the hours he's sleeping or sitting on the couch. For kicking a ball. And fishing yellow cards, a lot.

Exactly. Who's fault is it? It's Mr. or Mrs. Real Madrid fan's fault because they pay for the tickets.


The only time I think grumbling about athlete salaries is legitimate is when the team you follow plays in a salary cap league. For example, I grumble about Scott Gomez's (Montreal Canadiens player) 7.8 mill salary, not because of the 7.8 mill itself, but because of the cap hit. I think he's overpaid, not in the sense that I think it's stupid you can get 7.8 mill for playing hockey, but in the sense that he's not a good value for that 7.8. I don't care about Mike Cammalleri's 6 mill salary, or Sidney Crosby's 8.7 mill salary, because they put up points and score goals. However I dislike Gomez's because of the hit against the salary cap and lack of point production, and for no other reason. In fact, he's really not that overpaid in the grand scheme of things in the NHL.

 

[hellnback]

The scary thing about the Ronaldo situation is the fact that the Spanish La Liga is in excess of $2.2b in debt.

Only two teams consantly make money, Barcelona & Real Madrid. Another relegated club did this year, but they made money by not having to cover ridiculous player salaries, hence couldn't complete and got relegated!!! Classic catch-22.

Barca & Real continue to spend to excess to increase an already huge gap between them and 'the rest'... look at last seasons league table, two teams 25+ points clear??? C'mon, pleeeaaassse.

RK TEAM P W D L GS GA GD Pts
1 Barcelona 38 31 6 1 98 24 74 99
2 Real Madrid 38 31 3 4 102 35 67 96
3 Valencia 38 21 8 9 59 40 19 71

Yeah, they need to pad their position in the league by getting BETTER players (still).

I don't know what the solution is... as if I was a professional sportsman I'd want to earn as much as I could whilst I was playing in my limited playing career (golfers a little exempt). Afterall *most* sportpersons careers are done and dusted by mid-30's, not all just most.

 

[a6m5]

In the case of the NBA, players are most certainly overpaid, and it doesn't have anything to do with the demand. It's actually the player agents & player's union(can't remember the proper name). From what I understand, the league is losing money. And when player's make money regardless of their performance, and team owners, who invested their money to fund their teams are losing money, there is something definitely wrong there. Owner's are not completely innocent though. When one owner doesn't overpay, there will always be other owners who will overpay to get the player to play for their team. Vicious circle.

It is partially due to fans as well though. If you buy the tickets, cable/satellite broadcast, fan gears, you are supporting & justifying the high player salaries. Again, I'm familiar only with the NBA situation.

 

[ExigeEvan]

Regardless of how you look at it, half a million a week for kicking a ball is a lot of crap. That's 3000€ an hour - including all the hours he's sleeping or sitting on the couch. For kicking a ball. And fishing yellow cards, a lot.

And this is where you fail to understand why they get paid so much.

He gets paid so much because nearly every moment of his life is planned for him. And if he's lucky, he'll get 2-4 weeks holiday a year. He doesn't get weekends off.

They eat, sleep, train for hours, get massages, pose for photos, shake peoples hands, piss in a jar and watch hours of opposition analysis when someone else tells them to do it.

And getting injured is almost part of the job.

And by 35 they are past it.

 

[Sureboss]

Not to mention, they have no life out of football, they cannae go down the shops, etc.

All about supply and demand, yes, Cristiano is on a lot of money, but how much does he bring to the club? It will be significantly more than his wages.

 

[lbsf1]

To add another overpaid example. Kimi Raikonen was paid 30million euro's by ferrari last year.

 

[Greycap]

And this is where you fail to understand why they get paid so much.

He gets paid so much because nearly every moment of his life is planned for him. And if he's lucky, he'll get 2-4 weeks holiday a year. He doesn't get weekends off.

I surely do fail to understand. As noted earlier one hour of his life is worth about 3000€. To put it to perspective, one hour of my life is valued at roughly 2€. Are his holidays (which aren't all that different from mine to begin with) and weekends really so valuable that they warrant a paycheck 1500 times bigger than mine?

One of us kicks a ball daily and provides entertainment for people six hours a week. One of us stares at a computer and runs along the corridors daily to make sure people can call whoever they want to whenever they want to. Guess who's the joker and guess who keeps the society running. And guess who gets filthy rich in the process. That's what I fail to understand.

 

[lbsf1]

I surely do fail to understand. As noted earlier one hour of his life is worth about 3000€. To put it to perspective, one hour of my life is valued at roughly 2€. Are his holidays (which aren't all that different from mine to begin with) and weekends really so valuable that they warrant a paycheck 1500 times bigger than mine?

One of us kicks a ball daily and provides entertainment for people six hours a week. One of us stares at a computer and runs along the corridors daily to make sure people can call whoever they want to whenever they want to. Guess who's the joker and guess who keeps the society running. And guess who gets filthy rich in the process. That's what I fail to understand.

Yes however Its like buisness. There are probably many people who could do your job however how many people could play (insert whatever sport is needed) as well as they do? Its all supply and demand. Its unfair but that life.

 

[Azuremen]

I just find it an indication of where the focus of our society is when you compare athletes' salaries to those of surgeons and doctors.

People will question investing a few million into research, but don't seem to think twice about some player making a few million a year to provide some entertainment.

 

[DK]

Its all supply and demand.

Of course, there's that to consider. A man with the driving skills of Ayrton Senna is going to be in much higher demand than some chav who has wrecked dozens of cars because he hasn't learned that a FWD can't perform sustained powerslides AFAIK.

 

[Sureboss]

Supply and demand is what drives the global economy, don't see an issue with it, that's how it is. Take advantage of it.

 

[niky]

Yes however Its like buisness. There are probably many people who could do your job however how many people could play (insert whatever sport is needed) as well as they do? Its all supply and demand. Its unfair but that life.

I wouldn't even regard it as unfair.

How many career futballers end up coaching preschool and local teams for a pittance of a salary? A whole lot. There are millions of athletes around the world vying for spots in professional leagues. Only a tiny fraction get to the highest level of competition.

Thus this:

Supply and demand is what drives the global economy, don't see an issue with it, that's how it is. Take advantage of it.

We're looking at the Steve Jobses and Bill Gateses of the sports world... and yes, they don't build societies and businesses... but they drive spectator sports and help support marketing drives for those corporations that keep the wheels turning... but are any of them remotely near as rich as Bill Gates? No.

A surgeon does have an important job... but it's a job thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of other surgeons can perform. If he's a particularly good surgeon, he'll become a neurosurgeon... who's in such high demand that his pay per hour is huge. If he becomes one of the elite who's so specialized that he invents a new procedure or becomes the only one who can do it... his pay is enormous.

He's still not going to be as rich as Bill Gates, though.

I just find it an indication of where the focus of our society is when you compare athletes' salaries to those of surgeons and doctors.

People will question investing a few million into research, but don't seem to think twice about some player making a few million a year to provide some entertainment.

Mostly because it's their money that's going into the research directly via taxation... whereas an athlete's salary is paid for directly by his team and sponsors.

But I agree... as a civilization, our priorities are oddly skewed.

 

[ExigeEvan]

I surely do fail to understand. As noted earlier one hour of his life is worth about 3000€. To put it to perspective, one hour of my life is valued at roughly 2€. Are his holidays (which aren't all that different from mine to begin with) and weekends really so valuable that they warrant a paycheck 1500 times bigger than mine?

Except you're still ignoring the fact that between finishing work and starting the next day that time is yours. You can eat what you like, see your children, go to bed when you like provided you make work the next morning your boss doesn't care.

A professional footballer has to eat off a pre-formed menu everyday, he has to travel away from his family regularly for days on end, he doesn't get to pick his days off. he may even have to under-go surgery as part of his job, and no surgery comes without it's risks.

A professional athletes "job" isn't just a job, it's his way of life. And it effectively ends at 35.

Then take in the fact that he has mastered a skill that few of the population have, and yes, I think you can justify most footballers sallaries.

One of us kicks a ball daily and provides entertainment for people six hours a week. One of us stares at a computer and runs along the corridors daily to make sure people can call whoever they want to whenever they want to. Guess who's the joker and guess who keeps the society running. And guess who gets filthy rich in the process. That's what I fail to understand.

1 of you gets to go home and enjoy his free time. One of you gets to see your kids brithdays. One of you gets to eat and drink what he likes. One of you has a career that'll last him till he's in his 60s.


Investment Bankers make stupid money aswell. Why? Because they never switch off. They may start work at 9am, but if they didn't hear about the tropical storm pushing into the Mexican Gulf at 3am then they could lose millions before they've even started their commute.

 

[PeterJB]

A considerable part of an atheletes salary comes from prize money and sponsorships deals, you could half it and they'd still have more than enough to get by on, and their would be more to go around for the general population, who earn the same amount of money a year as a premier league footballer does in a single day.

 

[ExigeEvan]

A considerable part of an atheletes salary comes from prize money and sponsorships deals, you could half it and they'd still have more than enough to get by on, and their would be more to go around for the general population, who earn the same amount of money a year as a premier league footballer does in a single day.

And that would be communism. At the end of the day players get sponsored because that encourages others to buy the product.

 

[Joel]

I'll join in again. Someone brought up "why do surgeons get less than Ronaldo?"

How many surgeons are there in the world? Or rather, how many people are capable of being surgeons? Lots. How many people in the world are, or are capable of being a player at Ronaldo's calibre? A handful.

 

[lbsf1]

I'll join in again. Someone brought up "why do surgeons get less than Ronaldo?"

How many surgeons are there in the world? Or rather, how many people are capable of being surgeons? Lots. How many people in the world are, or are capable of being a player at Ronaldo's calibre? A handful.

True very true. As I said it sounds unfair.

 

[Dotini]

In ancient Rome a wise Senator was heard to lament that it was a sure sign of the decline and fall when athletes were valued more highly than physicians, and the eating of food regarded as entertainment.

 

[Keef]

In ancient Rome a wise Senator was heard to lament that it was a sure sign of the decline and fall when athletes were valued more highly than physicians, and the eating of food regarded as entertainment.

That wise Senator wasn't so wise, was he?

A considerable part of an atheletes salary comes from prize money and sponsorships deals, you could half it and they'd still have more than enough to get by on, and their would be more to go around for the general population, who earn the same amount of money a year as a premier league footballer does in a single day.

The reason a high-level athlete gets paid more than you is because they're better at it than you. If the market thought that these guys were getting paid too much the market wouldn't be sitting in the stands eating hotdogs, or rooting for their favorite driver on the television. Ever seen an F1 race?