Essay/Term paper: Wages of sport athletes

Essay, term paper, research paper:  Research Papers

Wages of Sport Athletes


How would you like to be paid twenty-three million dollars a year ? It
is obvious to say that everyone would more than love it. This figure is only one
of the many outrageous wages athletes are being paid today. True, not all
twenty-three million dollars goes directly to the athlete because of Uncle Sam.
Still these figures are too extreme regardless of the sport, baseball, football
or basketball. The athletes here in the United States are without a doubt the
greatest on earth. The only problem is so are their wages. Although the athletes
pay indicates the greatness of their individual ability, the amount earned per
year is way beyond reason. Due to these great wages being paid in particularly
in the sport of basketball, the games greatness is being lost.
One example of the extreme pay an athlete can achieve is shown by an
athlete named Michael Jordan. This basketball player is being paid thirty
million dollars for the 96 - 97 season. Last year for the season of 95 - 96,
Jordan was only being paid 3.5 million. While being paid this salary, Jordan
hardly ever complained too much even though the amount Jordan was being paid was
very low for the NBA. During this season Jordan never made any kind of statement
about quitting or even leaving for another team to make the money he may deserve.
Other players such as Shaq (Shaquille O'neil), and Reggie Miller, and even
teammate Dennis Rodman have been known to say things like this. The only
difference between Jordan and the other athletes is that Jordan seems to have a
great devotion towards his team and the other players do not have the same
loyalty or devotion. The circumstances appear that Jordan might actually play
for the mere love of the game, while others only play for the love of money.
Regardless of the motivation for playing the sport, a salary of 30 million
dollars is outrageous.
If you were to break down this thirty million dollars into different
categories such as how much money Jordan earns per game, the true
outrageousness will appear. For instance over an eighty-two game season Jordan
will be paid $365,854 a game. That is more than any middle and even most upper
class people make in one year. In one single game, it is hard to believe that
one man could make more than one person for a year. Believe it or not though,
most athletes do.
As the years go on athletes keep asking for higher wages. With this want
of higher and higher wages, the sports fan starts to think that the only reason
the athletes are playing is for the love of money, not for the love of the game
in which they compete. These professional athlete's are playing for millions
upon millions a year, and it is continually growing. So where do these
outrageous figures stop ? Who Knows. It may go on forever and the appreciation
and greatness of each sport will become lost. million dollars is outrage