Just looking at the largest contracts in sports history and...

[Piderman]

Re: Just looking at the largest contracts in sports history and...

Screw the lottery, I am gonna become a F1 Race Car Driver

[ChampN252]

Re: Just looking at the largest contracts in sports history and...

It's truly a shame that I know guys at the local park that play harder them most these guys and don't get paid a cent. Myself, I love flag football. I try my damndest to shut whomever I'm covering down. Doing it all for the glory.

[allBthere]

Re: Just looking at the largest contracts in sports history and...

Then you're advocating for a centrally planned economy where a committee will determine what each person's job is worth.

0 developed countries have a planned economy.



The difference is that very, very, very few people are capable of playing professional baseball.

Anybody is capable of being a janitor. That's why those positions are mostly filled with uneducated people and immigrants.

If you want janitors to be paid as much as baseball players then convince everyone in the US to stop watching baseball and convince companies to hire janitors at far more than their market value is.

Good luck with either.

He didn't advocate a centrally planned economy. He expressed disgust with how much some pro athletes make and I agree with him.

I know if I made that much I certainly would not feel that I "deserve" it...and what makes me more disgusted is that many of them actually do believe they do indeed deserve it because they are more "important". I'm also not saying I'd give 90% of it away either.

Just because some of us don't like it, doesn't mean we're automatically communists.

Do you not think that ticket prices have gotten out of hand in many sports? And how does watching something on TV mean that I'm the problem?

Unions are often them problem, because they changed from simply looking out for workers interests and getting them a fair shake, to being contra- the company and squeezing everything they can. It's adversarial now.

Who's looking out for the Fan's interests. It would be kind of interesting if there was a fan's union with far-reaching power.

I dislike the payrolls for multiple reasons; in small part because of what the players actually do, in part because it often ruins the sport or hurts the league, and in part because it screws over fans in some cases, and in part because it's just WAY out of hand. ex. Jordan making 33mil = about $412,000 per game, and assuming he played 30min a game that's just under 14 grand a minute. I happen to think that's a bit of a problem.

Most pro sports that had a strike, I actually stopped following to a large extent when they resumed, and also realized during the strike that I really didn't miss it that much.

People defending these salaries have jumped to conclusions.

[Jonesy]

Re: Just looking at the largest contracts in sports history and...

I can see MC's point. It is insane that guys make hundreds of millions of dollars playing a sport that many of us play for free or even pay to play when people like teachers / nurses etc that can have a profound impact on people lives earn so much less. You could say the same about anyone in the entertainment industry as well (30 mil a movie for Cruise, Hanks etc).

I guess it all boils down to supply and demand.

[mKoz26]

Re: Just looking at the largest contracts in sports history and...

...

Do you not think that ticket prices have gotten out of hand in many sports? And how does watching something on TV mean that I'm the problem?

...

I'm going to address this specifically.

When many people watch the games, teams get TV contracts. More viewers = more lucrative contracts. The money from the contracts go to the owner. The owner pays the players with the money. You're contributing to the problem.

[Cebby]

Re: Just looking at the largest contracts in sports history and...

He didn't advocate a centrally planned economy. He expressed disgust with how much some pro athletes make and I agree with him.

I know if I made that much I certainly would not feel that I "deserve" it...and what makes me more disgusted is that many of them actually do believe they do indeed deserve it because they are more "important". I'm also not saying I'd give 90% of it away either.

Just because some of us don't like it, doesn't mean we're automatically communists.

Actually, it would mean that.

In market economies people are generally paid based on the service provided to the firm relative to the people who are capable of accomplishing the service. Given the enormous amounts of money that the entertainment industry generates in the United States, athletes, actors, musicians, and other entertainers will be paid a lot of money.

If you are advocating a person be paid far below their market value than you are advocating for the government to determine the societal value of a person and their paycheck.

Do you not think that ticket prices have gotten out of hand in many sports?

Absolutely not. If arenas and stadiums were at 50% capacity then I would agree, but given that most teams are at 90+% capacity the prices charged are clearly reasonable.

And how does watching something on TV mean that I'm the problem?

Because if you watch a sport on television you are contributing to the ratings which are what networks and advertisers pay exorbitant amounts of money for.

Who's looking out for the Fan's interests. It would be kind of interesting if there was a fan's union with far-reaching power.

Fans to the sports industry don't exist.

Fans are consumers. If they don't wish to pay for the product they have that option. Unfortunately for you, most are willing to make the payments that you are not.

It's no different from whichever kiddy bop artist is popular. I don't like...say Justin Bieber and don't wish to hear him on the radio, but millions of pre-teen girls don't feel that way and will spend their parents' money to ensure his success.

Jordan making 33mil = about $412,000 per game, and assuming he played 30min a game that's just under 14 grand a minute. I happen to think that's a bit of a problem.

Who is it a problem for?

He made Reinsdorf a ton of money. He made the federal government a lot of money. He made Illinois and the city of Chicago a lot of money.

Who was hurt by Jordan's contract?

It is insane that guys make hundreds of millions of dollars playing a sport that many of us play for free or even pay to play

Unfortunately, you aren't good at sports.

I can do any engineering job at a very basic level. I've taken most calculus classes and several engineering and physics classes. I'd be willing to work for NASA for half the price of their top engineers.

However, I acknowledge that I wouldn't be able to send a shuttle into outer space. Thus, just because I'd be willing to do the job doesn't mean NASA should even entertain the idea of hiring me.

when people like teachers / nurses etc that can have a profound impact on people lives earn so much less.

And neither of those professions require a specialized skill.

The teachers with significantly above average teaching ability, knowledge, and education aren't paid poorly. Legitimately great teachers who are highly intelligent are paid hundreds of thousands by the elite universities in the world.

K-12 teachers are paid average wages because they provide services that aren't particularly difficult to provide. If you want them to be paid hundreds of thousands per year be prepared to see a 500% increase in your property taxes.

[dickey1331]

Re: Just looking at the largest contracts in sports history and...

I dont really have a problem with sports players making all that money. The owners are millionaires and can do with what they want with their money. Police and Fire Departments arent run by millionaires so they make less money. Is there something wrong with that? Yeah, in a perfect world Firemen would make more money than a baseball player but its not a perfect world and thats just how life is. I was stationed in New Orleans and Ive seen what sports teams can do for cities. They can give them hope and sometimes that justifies their big contracts especially for the ones that give back to their community. Having a sports team in your town brings in more money which should allow more jobs and higher paying salaries for people such as police who are paid by the city.

[BurghFan]

Re: Just looking at the largest contracts in sports history and...

Why?

Baseball is the only US sport without a salary cap. If basketball and football didn't they'd be highly represented in the top 10.

In previous salary cap structures, the NBA had the largest total contract at one time (KG) and still has the highest per year of any sport (Jordan).

One reason sports make me sick to my stomach at times.

We've got people making hardly enough to get them by who are doing far more important work for our world, yet some guy got good at hitting a ball with a bat for entertainment and makes at the least hundreds of thousands of dollars a year.

The 2 best posts in this thread. The main reason I despise the Yankees so much is because of the way they throw money around snapping up all the marquee free agents with ridiculous contracts that small market teams would never be able to pay. Additionally, I can't stand how these athletes seem to care more about money than playing the game. I can't stand it when I hear stuff about so and so being angry that he's only making $2 million a year and wants a contract worth $3 million a year. I'd love to have a job that paid me $2 million a year. Hell, give me $100,000 a year and I'd be more than satisfied.

[rspencer86]

Re: Just looking at the largest contracts in sports history and...

Does anyone remember how ridiculous that Kevin Brown contract seemed back when it was signed? I just remember not being able to comprehend that dude was going to make $100 million. Then again, I was 13, so $500 seemed like a fortune.

[MassNole]

Re: Just looking at the largest contracts in sports history and...

The teachers with significantly above average teaching ability, knowledge, and education aren't paid poorly. Legitimately great teachers who are highly intelligent are paid hundreds of thousands by the elite universities in the world.

K-12 teachers are paid average wages because they provide services that aren't particularly difficult to provide. If you want them to be paid hundreds of thousands per year be prepared to see a 500% increase in your property taxes.

Two things here. One, I don't think you can compare college professors to K-12 teachers. A college professor's ability to teach material isn't necessarily what leads them to be hired as much as their knowledge, experience, or ability to bring in grant money.

Two, this is a pet peeve of mine, public school K-12 teachers are wildly overpaid for the work they do. Especially when you consider they get paid a full years salary to work 8 months.

[TheMatrix31]

Re: Just looking at the largest contracts in sports history and...

Wouldn't jobs be lost due to no baseball, including janitors who work at the stadiums?

Boom.

Spoiler

goes the dynamite

[Vince]

Re: Just looking at the largest contracts in sports history and...

Players salaries aren't near the level in Soccer as they are over here. The highest paid players make around 5 or 6 million a year, not counting endorsement.

yeah 5-6 million EURO.

[Cebby]

Re: Just looking at the largest contracts in sports history and...

yeah 5-6 million EURO.

Plus don't European contracts count the "after-taxes" money? I know they do in basketball and I would assume the same would be true for soccer player.

If that's the case then they are paid roughly even. A guy who plays for New York or LA is paying roughly half his salary in taxes.

[ImTellinTim]

Re: Just looking at the largest contracts in sports history and...

And to make that they have helped price tickets outside of that which the average American could afford. I guess it's better than the owners making it and generally uneducated bafoons with millions is good for the local economies at least.

I'm a little late on this, but it's been shown that player salaries have no bearing on ticket price. They are charging what the market will pay.

At least that's what I believe because I choose to listen to economists and not team owners.