The "Overpaid" Athlete

The subject came up once again the other day.  Yet another person complaining about how professional athletes are overpaid.  If I had a nickel for every time I've heard this...well, I wouldn't be as rich as a pro athlete, but I'd certainly have a lot of nickels.  The things is, I'm not even really a big sports fan, and it's rare that I even get into conversations on the subject.  In fact, I usually try to avoid it if I can.  So if someone like me is being subjected to this complaint on a regular basis, then I can only imagine how often the matter comes up among people who actually care about sports.

One thing I've noticed about this complaint is that it's hardly raised in regard to famous actors, even though I suppose the same argument could be made about them.  They too make millions of dollars for something that many people might consider frivolous work.  I think there are two reasons for this.  One, the issue of contract negotiations and salary settlements is a routine and often relevant aspect of sports news.  Stories of players being traded to other teams or considering better contracts always bring the details of their income to light. Two, bitterness over a hometown favorite leaving to pursue more lucrative opportunities elsewhere causes fans to focus on the exact price at which the player's "betrayal" was bought.  So when you throw the anger of fan loyalty into the mix with people's outrage that someone is getting paid millions of dollars "just to play a game", I guess it's not really all that surprising that you frequently hear people griping about the matter.

But is there really some sort of massive injustice happening here?  It's understandable that some people might find it unfair that people are getting paid millions to pursue a leisure time activity while they are getting paid considerably less to do "real work."  However, this sentiment is based on a gross misunderstanding of how economics work.  The first thing these people need to understand is that there is no invisible higher authority that decides how much a person should get paid on the basis of how hard they work or how meaningful or "real" they consider their job to be.  There is no one to shake their fist at in anger over how unfair it all is.  There is no one who is just arbitrarily throwing millions at people like LeBron James and Shaquille O'Neal just to be perverse and rub it in people's faces how much their life sucks.

The principles behind it all are really very simple.  However, these principles don't revolve around moral questions of who "deserves" what, but rather issues of generated revenue.  In the sport's world these revenues are monumental.  They come from sponsorships, ticket sales, advertisement, and so on.  There is big money to be made in sports and people pay this money in a variety of direct and indirect ways.  The guy that complains to you about how much athletes make is liable to be holding a Bud Light in his hand at the time.  He never stops to reflect that Bud Light pays big money to advertise in sports venues.  He never stops to realize that Bud light pays this money because people like him, that watch sports, are liable to buy their product on the basis of this advertising, and it's worth their while to pay good money for the advertising because consumers like him guarantee a good return on their investment.  As far as ticket sales are concerned, no is forcing him to pay $60.00 for a seat at the game.  It's contradictory to consider that $60 a fair price and then to turn around and complain when he sees part the huge mountain of money that those ticket sales generate end up in the pockets of one of the players.  If he doesn't like the money these players are making, he should stop handing it over so willingly.

There's no huge conspiracy behind it all.  In the end it all comes down to one simple fact.  People are willing to pay millions to watch an athlete exercise their considerable skill.  Advertisers are willing to pay millions to have their product exposed to this audience.  The money comes rolling in, and it has to end up somewhere.  If the question truly is, who deserves this money....well, it's the athletes themselves that draw the crowds.  Shouldn't all that money end up in their pockets?  

So there's no use moaning and complaining about the millions of dollars that athletes make.  There's no sense in whining about how unfair it all is.  The next time you hear someone making this tired old complaint, tell them that if they can figure out a way to get millions of people to pay good money to watch them do their job, then have at it.