by Rick Robinson

Created on: July 30, 2009   Last Updated: August 09, 2009

Are professional athletes paid too much? In a free market it's a resounding NO! Athletes earn their keep and are the best in the world at their respective jobs. Here are my top 5 reasons why athletes don't get paid too much.

5. BEST IN THE WORLD

All professional athletes are the best in the world at the sport they play. Professional leagues are ever changing with new players, improved players, and also players being replaced. These leagues are so competitive that they only want the best players playing on any given day. Anything less than this and income could fall through the floor.

The only way to make money is to hire first-rate players and coaches. Imagine all of the top 1000 CEO's in the world. Do they get paid millions of dollars to run a large corporation? Of course because the board of director's thinks they have hired the best CEO that can make that company the most money.

It's the same with players and coaches. Only a small percentage of these select few players in the four major leagues make millions of dollars. These players are the top echelon of their respective sport. Here is a list of how many players are playing in these four major leagues.

NBA : 450

NHL : 690

MLB : 750

NFL : 1696

The chances of you becoming a professional athlete, not just in the four major leagues but in any sport is an astounding .0000565:1 These odds are astronomical, could you imagine what becoming a millionaire in these sports would be?

4.COMPARED TO OTHER ENTERTAINERS

Everyone loves a movie star, a rock band, an author, a politician (well maybe this one is a stretch). All of these figures make millions of dollars, but why? Professional athletes are no different than any of these figures. All of these job titles have one thing in common, they make others lots of money. Even the top politicians write books and give speeches where they earn millions of dollars. So why is a professional athlete any different?

3. SPONSORSHIP

Companies all over the world are in bidding wars to get their name at the top. Whether it's on the hood of a car in a NASCAR race or on the jersey of a soccer team, these companies know the importance of sponsorship. Sponsors come from every corner of the business world and some even make it big if their sponsored athlete makes it big.

A couple of examples are Red Bull (extreme sports) and Golden Casino (boxing) that have come to the forefront thanks to nameless athletes that make it huge. If a sponsor is going to sponsor a team, they want the superstar to play for that particular team so there is more exposure.

2. FREE MARKET

You pay their salary. If you've ever gone to a Major League Baseball, NFL, or NBA game, then you have contributed to those athletes making that kind of money. As long as there are people in the stands, athletes will make millions. Why? Simple, they make the team millions, which brings us to the main topic.

1. EARN INCOME BY GENERATING INCOME

All of the reasons listed above come down to this. If a player/coach makes a certain salary, then the owner of that team feels the player/coach is worth the salary paid. Most owners, just like any other businessman, wouldn't pay a player/coach if the owner felt he would lose money on the deal. When people say professional athletes are overpaid then they are usually talking about the big names.

Big names generate cash which in turn makes the player's salary look minute. If I could pay someone $25 million a year to get him on my team and he generated $30 million, why wouldn't I hire that player? It comes down to free market, sponsors, getting people in the stands and performance.

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