One More Dilemma: Are Professional Athletes Overpaid

The NBA's average player salary is $6.38 million whereas the average yearly salary of a surgeon is $400,000, which is only 6.2% of the former. It is astounding to see how much money people are willing to spend allowing major sport companies to pay professional athletes this much. That is clear to think whether are professional athletes overpaid (and that's what is analysed in the essay). However, they are annoyed when they have to pay the medical bills that help to pay the people saving their life. 

So Are Professional Athletes Overpaid?

When asked what profession deserves a high annual salary, one may think of a police officer, a firefighter, or a surgeon. Police officers put their lives on the line to help protect the people in their city, and they get paid a fraction of what a professional athlete does. Firefighters run into burning buildings to save the lives of complete strangers, and their salary is nowhere near that of a professional athlete’s. Surgeons hold the lives of people in their hands while performing surgeries that can take up to five hours long, and yet their annual salary does not compare to that of a professional athlete’s. There are so many hard-working people out there that can only imagine making what a professional athlete does. Some people say that athletes deserve the money they make because of the long hours spent training and the physical toll it has on their bodies. So by that logic, why are the men and women who serve our country only being paid an average of $35,000? In the case of minor injuries, a player does not even have to worry about a speedy recovery because their team can release them until they are cleared. Furthermore, some sports, like the National Football League, have to continue paying a player their full salary until they are cleared (write the world). In a normal job, getting injured could mean getting fired. Obviously there is the threat of a career-ending or life-threatening injury, however, there is that same threat in many other jobs in the world, so what is so special about professional athletes?

Sports organizations like the National Football League, National Basketball Association, National Hockey League, and Major League Baseball are all multi-billion dollar companies. Although many professional athletes are responsible for bringing in a lot of that revenue, it does not reflect how much they should make. It is understandable that a team is going to want to pay a player more money because they help bring in money, however, an athlete’s pay should be largely based on how well they play. Unfortunately, this is not always the case. The NBA and MLB have guaranteed contracts. This means that even if a player is cut from the roster, they still owe that player the money promised in the contract. The NFL, however, does not have guaranteed contracts, but they try to add some guarantees to the contracts. Some of these guarantees or, most commonly, bonuses insures the player gets money for just making the roster. Another example of a bonus would be the guarantee of the payment from their first year (ty doyle). In most cases, they are guaranteed millions of dollars, and this is only a part of the money laid out in the contract. Basketball, baseball, and hockey players get all the money laid out in their contracts. There is nothing stopping a player from getting paid an enormous amount of money even after getting cut on the second day. So while hard-working people are making just enough money to get by, some professional athletes are getting paid millions just for signing with a team.

There are many reasons someone may think athletes deserve the money they make. For instance, some may say that an athlete’s career is short-lived, and they need a salary that can support them when their career ends; however, is an athlete that gets paid millions not able to work a simple job? Even if they would not work after their career, the money they made should be more than enough to support them. According to, “...the typical U.S. household spent $60,060 in 2017 and had an average income of $73,573 before taxes.” The average American lifespan is about 79 years, and if someone started paying the same as a typical U.S. household at the age of 18 until they died, they would spend approximately $3,663,660. If Brandon Graham, defensive end for the Philadelphia Eagles, has made his current salary ($1,000,000) for all ten seasons he has played, he could easily pay what two-and-a-half Americans spent in their adult years until death and still have over double the average yearly salary of a surgeon. Boxer, Canelo Alvarez, could pay for almost twenty Americans, and Aaron Rodgers, quarterback for the Green Bay Packers, could pay for nine. There are athletes that could pay what more than one American has spent in their lifetime while some Americans are not able to pay for themselves. 

Conclusion

Professional athletes may be talented, but so are the people saving lives, teaching others, and everyone else in the world. Professional athletes are making millions, in most cases, tens of millions, of dollars a year just for being good at a sport most people have played growing up. Professional athletes should be paid less because they do not deserve the money they are earning.