The Dogg Pound (4/19/06) - Are athletes overpaid?

Dr. Giganto

Sports Moderator

Ask that question to any Joe Schmoe walking down the street, and you'll get probably get an enthusiastic "Yes". And, if you're in a seedy part of town, you'll probably have an unflattering adjective added to the end of it. In response, I'm here to say: No, athletes are not overpaid. In fact, if anything, they are UNDERpaid.

First and foremost, professional athletes are the most elite group of "workers" in the U.S. today. Pro athletes are the best of the best, the cream of the crop, and whatever other cliches you can think of.

Think of it this way: There are 30 NBA teams, and 12 players on each roster. That means that at any given moment, there are no more than 360 individuals who can call themselves an active NBA player. That represents about .0001% of the U.S. population. Add in the 734 active baseball players, 1696 football players, and 780 hockey players, and there are exactly 3570 professional athletes in the "Big 4" team sports.

According to the Department of Labor, there are about 800,000 doctors in the U.S. today. Thus, doctors outnumber professional athletes about 224 to 1.

Next, let's think about the lives that professional athletes lead. I know it sounds pretty glamorous, but it's really not all it's made out to be.

Let's take an average major league baseball player, for example. An average major league baseball player will leave for spring training in late February, and be away from home for at least a month. Then comes a six-month regular season, in which they are "home" for at most 10 days at a time (that is, if they even live in the city where they play). They play about 6 times a week, sometimes more. Then, if they are fortunate enough to make the playoffs, they play one more month, with the season ending at the very end of October. So, basically, they have all this money to buy fancy houses and other stuff, but they have little time to themselves to enjoy it, at least during the season. Plus, during the offseason, they often have off-season work-outs, or they can go play winter ball in South America of something like that. Professional athletes are forced to miss their children's extra-curricular activities. Hell, sometimes they even miss the birth of their own children!

OK, so they spend a lot of time away from home. Sound terrible? Not really.

But think about it like this: How much do you hate travelling? I dont mean the part where you're actually out at the bar boozing, or relaxing on the beach. I mean waiting at the baggage claim, sitting in traffic on the way to the airport, going through security, sleeping in an unfamiliar beed,etc. Major league baseball players have to do this every 3 days for about 6 months. And they need to gather up the energy to exert themselves physically every single day.

Now, let's look at what they actually do while they "work". Besides the actual game itself, they have several hours of practice a day, hours of film study, public appearances, etc. It is a very demanding profession, both time-wise and energy-wise.

Next, let's take into account the injury factor. How many other professions cause so much physical pain for its participants? I'm sure there are quite a few others (fireman and policeman immediately come to mind, where the risk of death is ever-present), but the fact that professional sports puts such a heavy toll on your body, and their is such a risk of torn muscles, broken bones, and ripped tendons, makes it only fair that athletes are so well-compensated.

Also, there is the fact that the vast majority of professionals don't play for that long. There's that famous stat that you hear all the time about how the average lifespan of an NFL career is less than 4 years. Major league baseball players usually spend years in the minors, making a more "reasonable" salary before getting called up to the majors. And for every Alex Rodriguez, who will make several hundred million dollars before his career is over, there are a handful of guys who come up to the bigs, make the league minimum for a few years, and ride off into the sunset.

The average MLB salary is a bit under $3 million dollars per year. Is that a lot? Yeah it is, but remember that that number gets disproportionately affected by players like Alex Rodriguez and Manny Ramirez, who make upwards of $20 a year. According to USA Today, 18 out of 30 baseball clubs have a median salary of $1 million or lower. Which means that over half (and probably closer to two-thirds or three-fourths) of major league baseball players make less than a million dollars per year.

Last, but certainly not least, let's remember who exactly is signing these huge checks. These teams are being run by multi-millionaires, who are enjoying a tremendous revenue stream from the exploits of these players. Total revenues for major league baseball are expected be about $4.5 billion, while total payrolls are about $2.3 billion. That leaves about $2.2 billion for other expenses, and profits for the owners. The 30 owners are certainly getting a fair chunk of that money.

Are professional athletes spoiled and out of touch with reality? Yeah, they probably are. After all, I'll never forget Latrell Sprewell turning down a $10 million a year contract and saying, "I gotta feed my family." But, considering the level of hard work and dedication that is required to be a professional athlete, they certainly earn the exorbitant salaries that they command.

Blitzkrieg

Administrator

I think and before I get started, good column once again Tom. But I think the words "Do they need it" and "do they deserve it" often get bunched together and this is a poor job by the people who say athletes are overpaid.

If they thought of it this way, they wouldn't say things like that.. Do the athletes need $6 million a year or whatever it is? No, but does a business man who sells clothing or whatever need his $1 million dollars plus? No, he doesn't either.

However, they deserve what they get. That's the key and the reason I will never complain about salaries. The way our system is structured it allows those who deserve the most money to make however much it is that they are worth.

An owner of a succeful baseball team makes much much more then the highest paid player on his team. It's not even an issue. Now, I don't think A-Rod deserved $25 million a year to the next highest player Jeter, who is making a little over 20, but the Texas Rangers owner was dumb enough to give it to him and I can't fault A-Rod for that.

Also, these athletes account for much more charity work and give more money to suffering individuals then the average person ever will, so everyone should really get off their back.

I saw George Steinbrenner on television the other day and though I hate the man, he made an excellent point. He said Derek Jeter making $20 million a year to play 162 games is much more within reason then some movie actor who makes the same for one film and people NEVER complain about that.