by Barbara Stanley

Created on: April 17, 2009

It has often been noted that nothing costs more than the market will bear, else the product or service will languish until it exists no more. The price of a ticket to attend a professional athletic event continues to increase and the market apparently is willing to bear it. At least, until recent difficult economic times. I believe there will be a marked decrease in ticket sales due to an uncertain job market and a shift in priorities. Presently, athletes enjoy millionaire status because they can demand a percentage of the ticket sales, especially those considered the stars of the team. Are they overpaid? They are in my opinion, but I base my opinion on comparison of knowledge, talent, skills, and necessity.

How much knowledge is required to play the sport? Although most professional athletes graduated from a four-year college, it did not take them four years to learn how to play football, baseball, hockey, or basketball. Much of their time is spent in practice and on the road playing away games, which leaves little time to study and become proficient in knowledge needed to pursue another career should they not become professional athletes.

How much talent does it take to play these sports? The majority of the players on a team are backup for those with exceptional talents. This means that, with much practice, almost anyone could be a professional athlete as long as their health was very good and they had the strength to endure long, hard practice sessions. Those who are billed as the stars of the teams were born with natural talents that were enhanced with practice.

How much skill does it take to be a professional athlete? Skill is the ability to perform an action with ease and confidence that comes with doing the action over and over until it becomes second nature or a habit. Skill is earned by hard work, patience, and perseverance. Do all professional athletes qualify as skillful? Probably not. I am sure there are many who do qualify.

The last is the most important. Are professional athletes a necessity? Of course not. No one will die tomorrow if all professional sports were banned and all athletes were out of a job. They do not, as a team, save lives by running into a burning building, yet the people who do are not paid enough to survive on. They do not treat disease, illnesses, or other health issues, nor do they operate on hearts, treat cancer, or mental illness. Doctors have to repay student loans for years before they earn enough money to live comfortably. Their mal-practice insurance is almost unaffordable. They are certainly not paid what they are worth.

I could list many professions in which the person is responsible for another person's life. EMTs and Paramedics are first on the scene of accidents and, as such, are often the only thing between the victim and death. They are paid just over minimum wage. In each of the cases mentioned, the person is not paid what they are worth to us as a society and to us as individuals. There are many other professions that we can say the same about. In comparison, is the athlete worth more money than a surgeon? Is he worth more than a teacher? The answer is no, of course, but we pay the excessive amount charged by the team owners. Because the owners receive hundreds of millions of dollars each year, they are compelled to pay their players a large sum of money to retain them. The athlete has the power to demand and the funds available. Our public servants have no such power or available funds from which demands could be met.

Until our priorities change, and people stop paying ridiculus prices for sporting events, athletes will continue to be over-paid to entertainers.

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