Are Professional Athletes Paid Too Much

Are Professional Athletes Paid too much?
Imagine millions of people on the edge of their seats, on the coach, on their barstools, or in the stands. The game is on the line, but the players walk off the field or court and into the locker room. The players have gone on strike. Why? They were not paid enough. All of these people watching this athletic event are disappointed. Ticket holders paid between $15 and $2,000 to watch these athletes perform…but the athletes were only making around $500 a game. If this were true, were the athletes not paid enough? But now, in today’s world, we ask: Are athletes paid too much? No they are not because people and companies make millions off of them, they have sacrificed their body and time to reach the pros,

The main reason being is that there are plenty of other people that deserve to be paid in millions of dollars. The argument is not who should get paid the big bucks; it’s why do athletes deserve to get paid the big bucks. Do firemen, police officers, war veterans, and other workers deserve to be paid six figures plus? Yes, they do. The trick to that is that the money used to pay these people, especially in America, is practically non-existent. The government funds are limited and so the money is just not there. When it comes to sports and athletes, the money is there and is well deserved. The following is why athletes are not paid too

In 1998, $950 million was spent on NASCAR (National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing) merchandise by fans (MacCambridge 284). Do these athletes not deserve at least a portion of this pay? They are the one’s bringing in the fans to make the money in the first place. As another example, Floyd “Money” Mayweather makes a cut of the Pay-Per-View dollars. If he wins, he makes more. Now…Mayweather always wins. His fight against Canelo Alvarez set records for highest total revenue (roughly $200 million). For his May fight with Marcos Maidana where the PPV buys are expected to finish between 900,000 and one million when they are all counted, compared to 2.2 million for Mayweather-Alvarez. Mayweather pocketed $105 million for the two bouts thanks to his role as both pugilist and promoter ("The World's Highest-Paid Athletes"). This way Mayweather along with Alvarez were both given the money they deserved. Everyone profited and the fans that paid to watch it were happy as well. That is how it should be. A fair cut of the money you bring in. If the fans stop coming and the fans stop watching, the athlete’s won't be paid nearly as much. They get paid off of their entertainment value as stated before. So if athletes like LeBron James shouldn’t make their millions, tell everyone to stop going to the Cavaliers games, to stop buying his jerseys, and to stop watching ESPN