why should professional athletes be paid less

In 2019, little had changed: soccer star Lionel Messi made 125% more than tennis star Serena Williams. Tennis has made moves to increase equal pay between their male and female players, and today all four major tennis tournaments offer equal prize money. Erin McGeoy, a former water polo athlete at George Washington University, explained, a common occurrence was that we would run out of meal money halfway through the semester and thats when I started to run into troubles of food insecurity. She turned to boarding dogs in her no-dogs-allowed apartment in order to pay rent because housing costs increased each year but her housing allowance remained static. This quote suggests the importance of teachers in our society, rendering the fact they should be paid more than professional athletes. If Alex Rodriguez earns the same amount of money as it would take tofeed the nation's poor for a year, he cant cheat and take steroids. That adds up to about $400,000 a year. But now in the 21st century, the NCAA is a billion dollar company. [35] Further, a Gallup poll of 74,385 U.S. adults with a bachelors degree, finds that college graduates who participated in NCAA athletics experience a host of positive long-term life outcomes at greater rates than non-athletes. [36], Those positive outcomes include: 70% of NCAA athletes graduated in four years or fewer, 50% agree that college was worth the cost, 39% earned an advanced degree, 33% have good jobs after graduation, and 24% This is about a six-foot-nine superstar taking a red-eye cross-country and having to sit in an economy seat instead of an exit row. The current deal with the league ends in October. Such Salaries Contribute to Income Inequality within Sports. 2017 Perspective-Media LTD. All Rights Reserved, THERE ARE AT LEAST TWO SIDES TO EVERY STORY. For instance, during each season of any professional sport, there are away games that keep players from their families. Source: MLS 2013; 2020; NWSL 2013, 2020 So if you think pro athletes make too much money, maybe you should stop watching them. This change in purpose has a negative impact on athletes ambition to play. Why hasn't anything changed? Mike Trout, a centerfielder for the Los Angeles Angels, gets $35.8 million a year. To fix the problem, and separate athletes who are getting an education just because they want to play a sport from those who actually want to go to college, the United States needs a true amateur or minor league that feeds into professional sports. The WNBA generates roughly $25 million annually from its TV deal with ESPN; the NBA's TV revenue from ESPN and TNT is 100 times that. 1. 3. Thats a bankrupt model. [3], Zachary Kerr, PhD, Researcher at the University of North Carolinas Center for the Study of Retired Athletes, stated, I definitely think research indicates strong evidence that injuries during ones sports career can potentially be associated with adverse health outcomes later in life. [21], In 2017, 67% of former Division I athletes had sustained a major injury and 50% had chronic injuries, 2.5% higher than non-athletes. Members of the United States womens soccer team at the Tokyo Olympics. Sure, their net salaries may be higher than ours, but they are still lower than we tend to think and much lower than what is published. Analysis: What equal pay in women's sports really means of footballs highest-paid players, Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers, just signed a four-year contract for $134 million. 5. And sport marketers can attract more fans to a league or player, increasing revenue and support. The NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association) is a nonprofit organization formed in 1906 that regulates college athletics, including game rules, athlete eligibility, and college tournaments. After all, athletes earn more money than teachers, first responders, and members of the military. At first, it was a great place to watch athletes play sports while making sure the rules were being followed. In today's society, one should be paid according to the jobs economic importance and their value to society. [23]. ProCon/Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc. 20, 2020, Christian Dennie, Governor of Nebraska Signs Name, Image, and Likeness Bill into Law, bgsfirm.com, Aug. 28, 2020, Gregg E. Clifton, UPDATE: Michigan Joins Growing Number of States Granting Name, Image, Likeness Rights to Collegiate Student-Athletes, natlawreview.com, Jan. 1, 2021, Suzette Parmley, Murphy Signs Bill Paying NJ College Athletes and Allowing Them to Hire Attorneys/Agents, law.com, Sep. 14, 2020, Student Player, studentplayer.com (accessed on Mar. However, some may argue that while teachers only provide service to a single classroom, superstar athletes are entertaining fans all around the world, enticing people with a feeling of relaxation and excitement. In 2018, NCAA president Mark Emmert was paid more than $2.7 million. Please try again later. The gender pay gap in professional sports persists - The Daily Californian In contrast, the likelihood of an NCAA athlete earning a college degree is significantly greater; graduation success rates are 86% in Division I, 71% in Division II and 87% in Division III. [34]. 1, 2021), Dan Murphy and Adam Rittenberg, NCAA Delays Vote to Change College Athlete Compensation Rules, espn.com, Jan. 11, 2021, Sarah Polus, NCAA Tables Name, Image and Likeness Vote after DOJ Warns of Potential Antitrust Violations, thehill.com, Jan. 12, 2021, Adam Liptak, Supreme Court to Rule on N.C.A.A. [11], Additionally, the US Supreme Court agreed to hear a case (National Collegiate Athletic Association v. Shawne Alston, et al.) ProCon.org is the institutional or organization author for all ProCon.org pages. By far the most ubiquitous solution is paying college athletes. Should Professional Athletes Be Paid? - 550 Words | Bartleby Both teams have a salary cap, meaning each team has a limit on how much they can pay their players and some limits on how they can divide that pot of money. That gap is narrowing slightly, however. players make about $500,000. The top players in these leagues earn huge salaries that most Americans can only dream of. 1. I thought the main issue in women's sports was equal pay. I was wrong In fact, some pro athletes in minor league baseballdont even make minimum wage. Economy, Not Misogyny, Drives Unequal Pay in Sports [25] [26], If college players earned about 50% of their teams revenues like the NFL and NBA players do, the average football players yearly salary would be $360,000 and the average basketball players yearly salary would be $500,000. As of 2014, a Sergeant of U.S Military who had two years of experience made $26,172. Pro athletes are the stars of those shows, and TV stars get paid a lot. And, as John I. Jenkins and Jack Swarbrick, President and Athletics Director of Notre Dame University argue, We have been vocal in our conviction that student-athletes should be allowed to profit from their celebrity for one simple reason: Other students are allowed to. How should the NCAA (or another governing body) balance college athletes sport, educational, and financial interests? While 2020 brought unexpected changes to both the NBA and the WNBA, with both leagues seasons affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, the CBA still remains. Finally, what really puzzles me, is how athletes get upset when athletes say that millions of dollars won't be able to support him and his family, and that they need more. 3. [1] As of Mar. 2021, the NCAA was composed of [n]early half a million college athletes [who] make up the 19,886 teams that send more than 57,661 participants to compete each year in the NCAAs 90 championships in 24 sports across 3 divisions. [1] [2], The NCAA is seemingly the final authority to decide whether college athletes should be paid to play college sports. Sport Management Blog: Olivia Franks 4 Tips for Success, Male vs Female Professional Sports Salary Comparison, 2010 Mens World Cup: $420 million, $30 million winners share, 2011 Womens World Cup: $5.8 million, $1 millions winners share, 2018 Mens World Cup: $400 million, $38 million, 2019 Womens World Cup: $30 million, $4 million winners share. Next, some MLB players will earn more in one game than the average American household makes in 10 years. In the same year, DeWanna Bonner, the highest-paid WNBA player, was eligible for a base salary of $127,500, a difference of almost 200%. [34], The major money-makers, football and mens basketball, have very low odds. Gender equity in tennis has been in the spotlight for decades, stretching back beyond Billie Jean Kings threat to boycott the 1973 U.S. Open. For example, fair market value for a University of Texas football player was $513,922. But many players say this is not enough. None of the largest ones are NFL stadiums. [39]. Adelphi University respects your right to privacy. All comments are moderated by the Learning Network staff, but please keep in mind that once your comment is accepted, it will be made public. Firefighters are the next contributor to society. The odds are even lower for womens basketball at 0.6%. Teachers, check out this guide to learn how you can incorporate them into your classroom. Dont Turn Them Into the Minor Leagues.," nytimes.com, Mar. We're Taught to Revere Schoolteachers. So Why Are They Paid So Little U.S. Soccer and Womens Players Agree to Settle Equal Pay Lawsuit, ice hockey Olympic gold medalists, Canadian soccer pros and W.N.B.A. Top athletes can do things that mere mortals can't. Most have paid a heavy personal cost to get there. Professional sports is a money-earning business. However, the male athletes serving the national team are disproportionally paid more, according to lawyers representing the group of female players. Are there other factors that you think should be taken into account? Haven't signed into your Scholastic account before? The most important thing here is that we are moving forward, and we are moving forward together.. Accessed April 27, 2023. https://www.procon.org/headlines/paying-college-athletes-top-3-pros-and-cons/, NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association), "Syllabus National Collegiate Athletic Association v. Alston et al.,", The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica, National Collegiate Athletic Association, britannica.com, Sep. 14, 2020, NCAA, What Is the NCAA?, ncaa.org (accessed Mar. Formula 1 favors global competition and advanced technology; NASCAR is all about personalities and fan accessibility. are the three biggest sports organizations in the U.S. But between particular sports, there are vast discrepancies in pay for men and women, ranging from tennis, where pay is comparable, to basketball, where players are in entirely different zip codes. In 2016, ESPN doubled their rights fee to show WNBA games, paying $25 million a year. The NCAA is seemingly the final authority to decide whether college athletes should be paid to play college sports. While the pay disparity didnt change, there is one aspect of the Forbes top-ten list that did. Stacy Revere/Getty Images (Aaron Rodgers); Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images (Mike Trout); Gary Dineen/NBAE via Getty Images (Stephen Curry), Big earners: Aaron Rodgers, Mike Trout, and Stephen Curry. The bulk of that figure is back pay, a tacit admission that compensation for the mens and womens teams had been unequal for years. UNC athletes will be able to earn money for NIL marketing including UNC trademarks and logos in groups of three or more athletes. But one of the biggest moves was the WNBAs 2020 community bargaining agreement. They also have the celebrity effect, which draws more paying fans in. Analyze the argument that paying athletes would ruin college sports from Cody J. McDavis, former college basketball player. Golden State Warriors player Stephen Curry was on track to make more than $40 million in salary alone during the 201920 season. But the long fight that set key members of the womens team against their bosses at U.S. Soccer ended on Tuesday just as abruptly as it had begun, with a settlement that included a multimillion-dollar payment to the players and a promise by their federation to equalize pay between the mens and womens national teams. Obviously, what these individuals must not be aware of is the most important man in our nation, the president, who makes critical decisions that affect the entire world every day, only makes $400,000 a year. 4. Teaching is one of the most economically important occupations because our future economy relies on the education of its youth, yet teachers are paid astronomically less than the average professional athlete is. THAT'S IT! : The 100 debates that govern your life, written in a way that tells both sides of every story. Are pro athletes overpaid? This was quite a change from polling conducted in 2017, when 60% believed college scholarships were enough compensation for college athletes. Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own. How much do you think the comparative revenue of mens and womens teams matters in determining pay? 3 Reasons Why Professional Athletes Shouldn't Be Paid So Much . A sergeant with six years of experience made $32,814. As John Thelin, PhD, Research Professor of History of Higher Education & Public Policy at the University of Kentucky, explained, paying salaries to players will increase [athletic] program expenditures without necessarily increasing revenues [and] a handful of powerful programs will stand to gain in competition for athletic talent simply because they can afford to pay salaries. Their hope is that by moving closer to a 50-50 split, common in other pro sports, they can increase salaries for all players, male and female. SSI is devoted to the development of a better understanding of the role of amateur and professional sports in the economy and . And this stark disparity has hardly budged for more than a decade: the pay gap between men and women has sat at 80%-83% since 2004. In the 1997-98 season, NBA rookies made 176% more than WNBA rookies. Wouldn't it be great to make nearly $111 million a year simply to play a game? players had reached out to the American soccer players and their union for help as they sought better pay and working conditions. Men's sports receive vastly more media coverage, television licenses, and sponsorship deals, which contribute to higher revenue. I am an editorial consumer intern reporting on sports and b-schools. It is true that on average, female athletes are paid far less than male athletes. The WNBA generates roughly $25 million. Two major moments in this dispute include: The SBNation site Stars and Stripes compiled a full timeline of the USWNTs negotiations with U.S. Soccer over the years. FRED BOWEN Washington Post sportswriter and author Nowhere else in America can businesses get away with agreeing not to pay their workers a fair market rate on the theory that their product is defined by not paying their workers a fair market rate. Usually, a team has one franchise player, who makes a huge salary, arguably more than his projected value, since he drives the teams business profitability forward. In U.S. No Matter The Sport, Women Athletes Are Always Paid Less The U.S. womens soccer teams games havegenerated more revenuethan the mens team over the past three years, according to a review by theWall Street Journal. Consider the pro position of the National College Players Association that paying college athletes is a civil rights issue. It is clear that professional athletes do not get paid enough, because they get paid the same amount as actors and they don't do anything physical. The team salary cap for the National Pro Fastpitch softball league is $175,000; the Boston Red Sox will split $227 million in 2019. [20], The highest paid mens basketball coach was the University of Kentucky head coach, John Calipari, who was paid $8.2 million per year. Should Professional Athletes Be Paid? - 562 Words | Bartleby The athletes leave their families, so they can go to their work, will you do that. But its important to remember that those athletes are an essential part of enormously profitable companies. Professional sports revenues are rapidly increasing because of the seemingly insatiable appetites for unique TV programs. Opinion: Women athletes do not deserve equal pay | HS Insider Professional Athletes Are Overpaid - The Odyssey Online More significant, though, is that players put their bodies in danger daily. [32] Discrepancies between mens and womens sports such as the weight room during the 2021 NCAA basketball tournament would only worsen. Next, some MLB players will earn more in one game than the average American household makes in 10 years. Money is not everything, and being money-hungry can be harmful in the long run. Why do athletes deserve high salaries? The gender pay gap is still a big problem. When basketball player Stephen Curry signed a new contract with the Golden State Warriors in 2017,jaws dropped at his salary: a whopping $201million over five years. All throughout the athletic department, people are making six-figure salaries. Soccer and Womens Players Agree to Settle Equal Pay Lawsuit, Andrew Das writes about the case and its implications for other sports: For six years, the members of the World Cup-winning United States womens soccer team and their bosses argued about equitable treatment of female players. What Can You Do With a Masters in Social Work? But those arguments fail when . Professional athletes put in years ofhard workand deserve every penny they earn. They shouldn't have to become Maxim models to prove their worth. Sports betting is now legal in the majority of US states. TM & 2021 Scholastic Inc. All Rights Reserved. It makes me sick to know that someone who is out fighting for our country gets paid significantly less than someone who simply plays a sport. [46], The University of North Carolina became the first school to organize group licensing deals for student athletes in July 2021. The truth is, some professional athletes make huge salaries because millions of people are happy to pay money to see those players make the amazing catches and breathtaking plays we love to watch. He is on a six-year $68 million contract, with $31 million guaranteed. As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. Another argument is that women's national teams for sports like soccer have far more success than the men's national team. while increasing income inequalitybetween the majority of athletes. Opponents to equal pay for women cite a variety of reasons why male athletes are paid more than women, including viewership, play style, strength, revenue and more. Have you been following this story, which involves some of the countrys biggest soccer stars? Why are female athletes still paid less than males? The pay disparities in baseball/softball and basketball come down almost entirely to the revenue their leagues generate. Tuition shortfalls amount to thousands of dollars per year and leave about 85% of players to live below the poverty line. Face Off: Should female athletes make as much as their male As professional sporting brings in a ridiculous amount of money in general, we should find a way to invest more in our female athletes and pay them the same as their male counterparts. After reading the pros and cons on this topic, has your thinking changed? Women were. Women used to rank more prominently among the top-earning athletes, butover the past 25 years, media companies have spent billions on TV deals for live sports content. Do Professional Athletes Get Paid Too Much Money? 69 other head mens basketball coaches were paid more than $1 million annually, and another three more than $500,000. 7, 2018, Steve Berkowitz, NCAA President Mark Emmert Credited with $2.7 Million in Total Pay for 2018 Calendar Year, usatoday.com, June 2, 2020, USA Today, NCAA Salaries, usatoday.com, Nov. 17, 2020, Ian McMahan, Athletes Are Paying the Physical Price of Playing College Sports, si.com, Oct. 31, 2017, Azmatullah Hussaini and Jules Lipoff, Op-Ed: COVID-19 Is Making the NCAAs Exploitation of Student-Athletes Even More Obvious, latimes.com, June 23, 2020, Meghan Walsh, 'I Trusted 'Em': When NCAA Schools Abandon Their Injured Athletes, theatlantic.com, May 1, 2013, Jon Solomon, The History Behind the Debate over Paying NCAA Athletes, aspeninstitute.org, Apr. Why or why not? Every year since the Womens National Basketball Associations inaugural season in 1997, the highest-paid womens basketball player has earned less than the lowest-paid National Basketball Association player. The rest of it gets spread out to the coach, who makes $8 million a year, to the assistant coaches, who make as much as a half-million dollars a year. The team filed a complaint against U.S. Soccer in March that states: Female WNT players would earn a maximum of $99,000 or $4,950 per game, while similarly situated male MNT players would earn an average of $263,320 or $13,166 per game. The players claim they face discrimination when it comes to where and how often they play, how they train and travel, the medical treatment and coaching they receive, and obviously their salaries. The Yankees bat boy salary is more than my professional softball contract,NPF playerand U.S. womens national team member Delanie Gourley wrote in a since-deleted tweet. The large amounts of money invested in professional sports in recent years has the potential to drain the true meaning from sports. Tennis players may earn up to $10,000 in prize money yearly while playing college tennis and college football players may earn up to $550 in bowl gifts. Take ice hockey as an example: there are both . And athletes should as far as possible have the opportunities other students enjoy. [49], Governor of California Gavin Newsom, stated, Collegiate student athletes put everything on the line their physical health, future career prospects and years of their lives to compete.
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