Overpaid Athletes

Are Our Athletes Getting Paid Too Much?

A. J. Baker

WOULDN’T IT BE GREAT TO EARN $111 MILLION per year just to play the sport you love? Well, Lionel Messi, Lebron James and many other elite athletes would agree. Although they are extremely talented, it is hard to justify their salaries. Are our athletes overpaid?

Yes, some would argue that professional athletes are paid way too much. How is it that we live in a world where the average salary of an Australian teacher is AU$90,000 whilst rookie Australian NBA player Josh Giddey is able to sign a AU$42 million four year contract prior to his debut? If an individual is to be paid based on their value to society, it seems outlandish for basketballer Stephen Curry to earn the average firefighter’s salary for every basket he scores. Especially when one saves lives regularly whilst the other throws a ball into a hoop.

Although athletes are paid colossal sums of money annually, it is not entirely their fault. Leagues like the NBA, MLB and NFL bring in over $10 Billion USD each per annum. However, the way in which these corporations choose to divide their money could occur in a more sensible manner – Like allocating certain amounts each year to charities, emergency services or other ‘underpaid’ industries. 

Furthermore, it is fairly obvious that money has changed these athletes for the worse. To see players purely playing sport for the money is disgraceful and greedy to say the least. For example, in 2020 Victor Oladipo, an NBA player, rejected a AU$112 million four year contract but instead signed at the Miami Heat two years later for AU$2.3 million per year. Although $2.3 million is a gigantic sum of money his greed cost him a lifetime of financial freedom. Additionally, the average amount of games played per season has decreased, a pure representation of athletes overvaluing their worth to society.

Although our athletes are earning extensive sums of money, it is important to remember that these individuals are at the pinnacle of humanity’s athletic capabilities. Additionally, they are unlikely to earn much money before and after their professional sporting careers. The majority of athletes are only able to obtain 5-10 year careers due to injuries or age. These five years act as primary money making years to set them up for life. Prior to a sports person’s career they are likely training extensively and making great sacrifices to achieve the athleticism that must be required to compete in such prestigious leagues. Throughout this period it is highly unlikely that the athlete will even be earning any money at all.

Another key consideration is the great pay discrepancy between the best player and worst player within a league. For example, in Tennis the number one ranked player in the world, Novak Djokovic rakes in nearly $10M USD in earnings alone each year. However, the 1000th best tennis player, Michal Mikula earnt just $4,273 USD last year. Therefore, some would even argue that our athletes are even underpaid to an extent as $4,000 is clearly not enough money to live off whilst trying to pursue sport as a profession. I think it’s fair to say that our athletes are neither over nor underpaid; some would argue that pay equality should be implemented in the sporting realm, whilst others would strongly disagree. At the end of the day these athletes provide us with unrivaled entertainment and pose endless arguments about the beautiful nature of sport.