Are Professional Athletes Paid Too Much

For years, fans of the four major U.S sports NFL, MLB, NBA, and the NHL have been arguing over the question “Are Professional Athletes Paid To Much”? This question has been discussed and scrutinized by every fan from a novice up to the most die-hard fans.

No matter how much fans think Michael Jordan was the greatest basketball player that they have ever watched it does not mean that an annual salary of $30,000,000 dollars was justified.In our present society sports and entertainment is placed high on the priority list. In 1990 the average salary for the four major sports in the U.S were NBA $927,000, MLB 578,930, NFL $356,382, and NHL $271,000. In 2012 the average salary for the four major sports in the U.

S increased insanely, the NBA jumped the most, up to $5,150,000, MLB $2,800,000, NFL $1,900,000, and NHL $1,500,000. What that means is that from 1990-2012 the average salary of an NBA player has increased over 555%, NFL 533%, MLB 483%, and NHL 553%. Even to a blind person the increases over that time frame were ridiculous. How could anyone validate some of their average salaries to some of the jobs that make a difference from day to day like a firefighter, average salary $51,000; Police officer $40,000; or a military service member $31,571.For most fans it has become increasingly difficult to attend a sporting event due to athletes making more money, which in turn causes the owners of those professional teams to raise the price on tickets and concessions at their respective stadium to cover the cost of what they are paying their players. Going to a sporting event used to be a tradition that a father and son was able to afford from time to time but tickets prices are so outrageous now, that families nor the average fan cannot afford to go to them.

Take a football game for example; tickets to a Dallas Cowboys game in their new stadium can cost a fan upwards of $215 per ticket for decent seats, it’s almost criminal. A ticket should not cost more than $75 and the highest paid athlete should not receive more than $5,000,000 a year. If salaries were reduced within reason maybe the extra money the owners would make could be used on the community.The youth of this great nation are able to see those figures and what they are thinking is that there is no reason to strive to become anything other that a professional athlete. Kobe Bryant is making $20,000,000; Alex Rodriguez is making $30,000,000 plus a year.

This is what are children see and it has them thinking about trying to become a professional athlete instead of going off to college and studying to become a doctor, lawyer, or something else that requires more than just athletics because of the huge disparity in salary. Are we to believe that an athlete is more important than the likes of a service member, doctor, policemen, fireman, or even the president of the United States?In conclusion fans have no one to blame but other fans for how far this has gotten. Does anyone like over paying for a house or any other material item, more than likely not. So why overpay these athletes, from now until the day the prices are brought back to a reasonable place. Stop ordering and going to these over priced events so that the players and owners understand that the fans are the ones that pay their salaries and that we are fed up with the inflated prices on tickets, salaries and concessions.

Maybe that’s what it’s going to take to bring things back to normal, a boycott against high sporting event prices.