why should professional athletes be paid lesswhy should professional athletes be paid less

If Alex Rodriguez earns the same amount of money as it would take tofeed the nation's poor for a year, he cant cheat and take steroids. [31], If students were paid, the NCAA argues, many colleges and universities would have to offer fewer scholarships and the remaining scholarships would be distributed unfairly to top football and mens basketball players because those two sports bring in the most revenue. Limits on Paying College Athletes, nytimes.com, Dec. 16, 2020, Dennis Dodd, Breaking Down the NCAA's Forthcoming Supreme Court Battle with Its Big Brother Status and Amateurism at Stake, cbssports.com, Feb. 3, 2021, NCAA, 2021 March Madness: Complete Schedule, Dates, ncaa.org (accessed Mar. Consider the pro position of the National College Players Association that paying college athletes is a civil rights issue. The bulk of that figure is back pay, a tacit admission that compensation for the mens and womens teams had been unequal for years. Given athletes large salaries, more youngsters want to become professional athletes but for the big money, not for the love of the game. While MLS and the NWSL have only been around for a few decades, the United States has fielded national soccer teams in World Cups since 1930 (US Mens National Team) and 1991 (US Womens National Team). Should College Athletes Be Paid? - The New York Times Male athletes receive more money through endorsements and personal branding initiatives, further widening the sports pay gap. THAT'S IT! players make about $500,000. 69 other head mens basketball coaches were paid more than $1 million annually, and another three more than $500,000. In 2019, FIFA proposed doubling the womens prize pool to $60 million in the 2023 World Cup, and announced that they would spend $1 billion on womens soccer over a period of four years. The NCAA also does not prohibit schools from canceling injured athletes scholarships, leaving athletes without a sport or education. Aspiring athletes get to be superstars because they have some type of rare talent. Professional sports revenues are rapidly increasing because of the seemingly insatiable appetites for unique TV programs. In the same year, DeWanna Bonner, the highest-paid WNBA player, was eligible for a base salary of $127,500, a difference of almost 200%. People argue that since women in sports work just as hard as men, they should receive equal pay. In 2020, the league difference in rookie pay decreased by 50% (down from 154%), while the salary budget gap closed by 22%. Both teams have a salary cap, meaning each team has a limit on how much they can pay their players and some limits on how they can divide that pot of money. The average American woman earns 81% of what an average American man earns, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. ], ProCon.org, "Paying College Athletes Top 3 Pros and Cons,", ProCon.org, "Paying College Athletes Top 3 Pros and Cons. Players salaries are simply their share of all the cash these hugely successful businesses bring in. Now, the N.C.A.A. FRED BOWEN Washington Post sportswriter and author A second-year All-Star can be paid just above minimum salary. The gap varies by industry, according to Payscale: the legal profession has the worst discrepancy at 64%, while arts, entertainment and sports comes in well above average at 94%. U.S. Soccer appears to have gotten the message, and the two sides will pursue mediation after the World Cup to resolve the gender-discrimination lawsuit instead of going to a courtroom. This leads to more wins and, in turn, more viewers, more merchandise sold and increased brand worth. But far more comes from the multibillion-dollar deals made with cable and TV networks to broadcast games. While these may seem huge, so are the deductions from them. [32] Discrepancies between mens and womens sports such as the weight room during the 2021 NCAA basketball tournament would only worsen. A sergeant with six years of experience made $32,814. (Photo by Damien MEYER). Both mens and womens basketball used the unusual circumstances to play with online options and enhance the at-home fan experience, and the WNBA saw its highest draft viewership in 16 years during the 2020 virtual draft. Respondents were split 50/50 in a June 1, 2021 New York Times survey about whether the NCAA strictly limiting paid compensation is constitutional. This change in purpose has a negative impact on athletes ambition to play. [25] [26], If college players earned about 50% of their teams revenues like the NFL and NBA players do, the average football players yearly salary would be $360,000 and the average basketball players yearly salary would be $500,000. Thats about $40million a yearone of the highest annual salaries in team sports. Students, read the entire article, then tell us: What is your reaction to the settlement? Spicemas Launch 28th April, 2023 - Facebook Team owners and the three big leagues rake in billions of dollars a year. An NHL Blackhawks player earned over 124 million dollars in 13 years.Why should athletes get paid so much to play a game? Nine other NCAA executives were paid more than $500,000 in 2018, with one paid more than $1.3 million. It Threatens the Future of Sports. : The 100 debates that govern your life, written in a way that tells both sides of every story. Sure, their net salaries may be higher than ours, but they are still lower than we tend to think and much lower than what is published. 3, 2021), National Center for Education Statistics, Fast Facts: Tuition Costs of Colleges and Universities, nces.gov, 2019, NCAA, Finances of Intercollegiate Athletics, ncaa.org (accessed Mar. Among the 10 highest-paid female athletes in 2018, nine were tennis players. Until 2018, the mens team qualified for the World Cup every year since 1990, but has not won a championship. As professional sporting brings in a ridiculous amount of money in general, we should find a way to invest more in our female athletes and pay them the same as their male counterparts. Professional athletes put in years ofhard workand deserve every penny they earn. 7, 2018, Steve Berkowitz, NCAA President Mark Emmert Credited with $2.7 Million in Total Pay for 2018 Calendar Year, usatoday.com, June 2, 2020, USA Today, NCAA Salaries, usatoday.com, Nov. 17, 2020, Ian McMahan, Athletes Are Paying the Physical Price of Playing College Sports, si.com, Oct. 31, 2017, Azmatullah Hussaini and Jules Lipoff, Op-Ed: COVID-19 Is Making the NCAAs Exploitation of Student-Athletes Even More Obvious, latimes.com, June 23, 2020, Meghan Walsh, 'I Trusted 'Em': When NCAA Schools Abandon Their Injured Athletes, theatlantic.com, May 1, 2013, Jon Solomon, The History Behind the Debate over Paying NCAA Athletes, aspeninstitute.org, Apr. [23]. This trend holds a significant effect on players salaries: It helps some athletes get oversized contracts (what doPatrick Mahomes teammates think about his $503M contract?) 325 N. LaSalle Street, Suite 200 All comments are moderated by the Learning Network staff, but please keep in mind that once your comment is accepted, it will be made public. Outside the majors, the average earnings of U.S. women ranked by the Womens Tennis Association were higher than the U.S. men in the Association of Tennis Professionals. Most players have no real amateur sport option and those who would rather not go to college have no other established feeder system to make it to a professional team. Schools would not be allowed to pay students and no one could offer compensation for students to attend a particular school. Why Female Athletes Should Be Paid the Same as Male Athletes - The Swaddle In fiscal year 2019, the collective expenses of the 65 Power Five schoolsthe largest and richest Division I schools in the NCAAexceeded revenue by $7 million. The most important thing here is that we are moving forward, and we are moving forward together.. After reading the pros and cons on this topic, has your thinking changed? We'll have to wait and see what. 5. But one of the biggest moves was the WNBAs 2020 community bargaining agreement. Source: Forbes (men 2010, 2019; women 2010, 2019). Associate Justice Neil Gorsuch, writing for the majority, stated, traditions alone cannot justify the NCAAs decision to build a massive money-raising enterprise on the backs of student athletes who are not fairly compensated. Obviously, what these individuals must not be aware of is the most important man in our nation, the president, who makes critical decisions that affect the entire world every day, only makes $400,000 a year. [21], Azmatullah Hussaini, MD, President of the New York/New Jersey chapter of the American Muslim Health Professionals, and Jules Lipoff, MD, Assistant Professor of Dermatology at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, offered additional context: especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, [g]iven that athletes are disproportionately Black in the biggest revenue-generating sports football and basketball this dynamic also evokes Americas horrific history of unpaid slave labor. If it is closed by the federation in negotiations with both teams, the change could funnel millions of dollars to a new generation of womens national team players. There are a variety of reasons why some people believe professional athletes should be paid less. They save peoples' lives every day, should have more recognition than they are given, and deserve better pay. The gender pay gap in professional sports persists - The Daily Californian The rising gap between the average Americans income and a professional athletes income might pose a serious threat to sports. Gender Pay Gap for Women Athletes - Inequality.org Here are three reasons for why the violence should be stopped and three reasons why it shouldn`t. Besides, not all athletes make millions of dollars. 2016: Five USWNT players filed a wage-discrimination complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Nike hasnt made asignature shoefor a WNBA player in over 20 years. Moreover, in my mind, if these athletes want to continue to be rewarded with the fame and fortune that is unfairly bestowed upon them, they must prove to the world that they are going to be positive role models for future athletes, and those who admire them. While compensation for women has improved over the past decade, the gap still extends to even the world's highest-paid players. This reason is why the athletes should get high salaries, because they travel far, leave their families and risk their life. In contrast, the likelihood of an NCAA athlete earning a college degree is significantly greater; graduation success rates are 86% in Division I, 71% in Division II and 87% in Division III. [34]. 23, 2023. In today's society, one should be paid according to the jobs economic importance and their value to society. In the N.B.A., the average annual salary was $7.1million. That equaled the prize money for a single winning mens team a decade earlier. 5 good reasons why women in sport don't deserve equal pay [12] The Supreme Court heard arguments on Mar. Pro. The WNBA generates roughly $25 million annually from its TV deal with ESPN; the NBA's TV revenue from ESPN and TNT is 100 times that. Students develop wide-ranging leadership skills and learn to conduct the marketing and administrative tasks of sport organizations and business operations. First, the average Cubs player earned over 6 million dollars in 2012. Teachers, check out this guide to learn how you can incorporate them into your classroom. In 2019, the average annual income for a US household was $96,955while the average income of a professional baseball player in the major leagues was around $4.7 million. I thought the main issue in women's sports was equal pay. I was wrong Rent-Sharing in Modern College Sports, nber.org, Oct. 2020, Tommy Beer, NCAA Athletes Could Make $2 Million A Year If Paid Equitably, Study Suggests, forbes.com, Sep. 1, 2020, NCPA, Study: "The Price of Poverty in Big Time College Sport" - 9/13/2011, ncpanow.org, Sep. 13, 2011, Mary Kate McCoy, Survey: Nearly a Quarter of Division I Athletes Face Food Insecurity, wpr.org, May 6, 2020, NCAA, Scholarships, ncaa.org (accessed Mar. Whether professional players receive salaries or individual prize money from competitions, male athletes in basketball, golf, soccer, baseball and tennis make anywhere from 15% to nearly 100% more than female athletes. With a new decade ahead, we are taking a look back at how athlete compensation changed over the past ten years, and the obvious trends of wage equality in sports. This is about a six-foot-nine superstar taking a red-eye cross-country and having to sit in an economy seat instead of an exit row. The current deal with the league ends in October. That gap was once seen as an unbridgeable divide preventing any sort of equal pay settlement. Should Brady be called the best quarterback in NFL history? Other Division I schools had an almost $23 million collective difference between revenue and expenses. In 2019, 14 million people watched the U.S. Womens National Soccer team defeat the Netherlands to win the FIFA Womens World Cup10.5 million more viewers than their 2001 finals appearance. Panel Recommends," nytimes.com, June 28, 2021, Alan Blinder, "College Athletes May Earn Money from Their Fame, N.C.A.A. In 2010, golfer Tiger Woods made 124% more than tennis player Maria Sharapova. Since then, the womens team has won four FIFA Womens World Cup titles. The team salary cap for the National Pro Fastpitch softball league is $175,000; the Boston Red Sox will split $227 million in 2019. [13] [14] [41], Gabe Feldman, JD, Professor of Sports Law, Director of the Sports Law Program and Associate Provost for NCAA compliance at Tulane University, noted that the last time the NCAA was at the Supreme Court was in 1984 (NCAA vs. the Board of Regents of the University of Oklahoma). This is about small changes the league can make that will impact the players. 81 other head football coaches made more than $1 million annually and another 29 more than $500,000. The team filed a complaint against U.S. Soccer in March that states: Female WNT players would earn a maximum of $99,000 or $4,950 per game, while similarly situated male MNT players would earn an average of $263,320 or $13,166 per game. The players claim they face discrimination when it comes to where and how often they play, how they train and travel, the medical treatment and coaching they receive, and obviously their salaries. ), and Major League Baseball (M.L.B.) [46], The University of North Carolina became the first school to organize group licensing deals for student athletes in July 2021. Is MMA any more dangerous than boxing or other contact sports? UNC athletes will be able to earn money for NIL marketing including UNC trademarks and logos in groups of three or more athletes. [20], College athletes, arguably the stars of the show who earn millions year after year for the well-paid NCAA executives, coaches, and staff, were forbidden by the NCAA from not only being paid for their work-, but from seeking other related compensation such as endorsement deals. Source: Womens National Basketball Players Association (2019, 2020). The NCAA is not above the law. [43] [44], On June 28, 2021, the NCAA Division I Council recommended to the NCAA Division I Board of Directors that student athletes be allowed to profit from their name, image, and likeness. 1, 2021], Jessica Gresko, High Court Agrees to Hear NCAA Athlete Compensation Case, nsjonline.com, Dec. 16, 2020, Daniel Roberts, Poll: 60% of Americans Support College Athletes Getting Paid Endorsements, finance.yahoo.com, Oct. 8, 2019, NCPA, NCAA Refusal to Vote on NIL Pay Is Slap in the Face to Athletes, ncpanow.org, Jan. 11, 2021, Bloomberg, The NCAA Raked in Over $1 Billion Last Year, fortune.com, Mar. As John Thelin, PhD, Research Professor of History of Higher Education & Public Policy at the University of Kentucky, explained, paying salaries to players will increase [athletic] program expenditures without necessarily increasing revenues [and] a handful of powerful programs will stand to gain in competition for athletic talent simply because they can afford to pay salaries. Athletes Dont Get Paid As Much As We Think. Pro athletes are the stars of those shows, and TV stars get paid a lot. To fix the problem, and separate athletes who are getting an education just because they want to play a sport from those who actually want to go to college, the United States needs a true amateur or minor league that feeds into professional sports. Perhaps more notable is U.S. Soccers pledge to equalize pay between the mens and womens national teams in all competitions, including the World Cup, in the teams next collective bargaining agreements. When fans look at professional athletes salaries, its easy to say they make far too much money for playing a game. To learn more about the Adelphi University MS in Sport Management program, Ruth S. 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The top ten highest-paid women in 2019 were all tennis players when a decade ago the top-ten list included NASCAR, ice skating and golf. The Bottom Line: While it seems like theres no way to stop such inflated salaries of professional athletes, the repercussions could cause long-term damage to professional sports. Should Professional Athletes Be Paid? - 562 Words | Bartleby Sorry, an error occurred and your vote could not be processed. The players long battle with U.S. Soccer, which is not only their employer but also the sports national governing body, had thrust them to the forefront of a broader fight for equality in womens sports and drawn the support of fellow athletes, celebrities, politicians and presidential candidates. In 2018, the average annual salary for an M.L.B. Major League Soccer played their first game in 1996, after the United States hosted the 1994 FIFA World Cup. For better or for worse? Nowhere else in America can businesses get away with agreeing not to pay their workers a fair market rate on the theory that their product is defined by not paying their workers a fair market rate. In fact, each basket Kobe Bryant scores earns him equivalent to the average classroom teachers yearly salary. 3. From these statistics, many would believe that women and men athletes should be equally paid because of an almost identical stat line that shows equivalent performance. Given athletes large salaries, more youngsters want to become professional athletes but for the big money, not for the love of the game. Are professional athletes paid too much? The answer may surprise you In order for these players to gain respect, they need to have a more significant impact on the community. All throughout the athletic department, people are making six-figure salaries. But theyre still earning way too much money. Male footballers should earn more than women according to US Source: MLS 2013; 2020; NWSL 2013, 2020 How do you think other governing bodies should address the pay disparities that exist between male and female players in many sports? The top players in these leagues earn huge salaries that most Americans can only dream of. But that will always be the case if women's sports aren't marketed properly Thu 9 May 2019 05.00 EDT. Mike Trout, a centerfielder for the Los Angeles Angels, gets $35.8 million a year. Women were. In U.S. [38] These rules can effectively limit players options to playing in college or choosing another profession altogether. However, some may argue that while teachers only provide service to a single classroom, superstar athletes are entertaining fans all around the world, enticing people with a feeling of relaxation and excitement. of footballs highest-paid players, Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers, just signed a four-year contract for $134 million. Firefighters are the next contributor to society. Athletes are paid huge sums of money to play sports. What kids learn from successful ballplayers like him is that Its okay for me to use illegal substances, because in the long run, it will pay off by earning me an enormous contract.. What are sports like at your school? Some of it comes from fans who shell out big bucks for costly game tickets and hugely overpriced snacks at stadiums and arenas, and for hoodies and hats with their favorite teams logo. This change in purpose has a negative impact on athletes ambition to play. Do Professional Athletes Deserve Their Inflated Salaries? Should the college athletics system be revised in another way to compensate amateur athletes? When the WNBA players' union opted out of its collective bargaining agreement in November, Los Angeles Sparks star Nneka Ogwumike, the president of the union, wrote for The Players' Tribune: This is not purely about salaries. The gulf in TV money between mens and womens sports leagues is massive. Proper citation depends on your preferred or required style manual. [18] [19], Michael Sokolove, author of The Last Temptation of Rick Pitino (2018), explained, If you look at a program like [University of] Louisville, they generate about $45 million a year in revenue. Additionally, while most teenagers or college-age students spend their free time studying, working or hanging out, student athletes aiming to qualify for the pros spend all of their free time training. In 2019, little had changed: soccer star Lionel Messi made 125% more than tennis star Serena Williams. 1,217 will be draft picks, but only 791 will be drafted yearly, meaning about 9.9% of college baseball players will go pro, which is the largest likelihood in NCAA sports. Pro Athletes, Pay Cuts, and the COVID-19 Pandemic The top WNBA salarywas $117,500 last season, compared with $37.4 million in the NBA. [36], Amy Perko, CEO of the Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics, said of the Gallup findings, Its a positive report for the educational benefits for college sports, and it reinforces the point that weve tried to make over the years. The gender pay gap spans almost every industry, and sports is no different. What do you think of U.S. Soccers pledge to equalize pay between its mens and womens national teams? We're Taught to Revere Schoolteachers. So Why Are They Paid So Little Professional sports is a money-earning business. [47], By Jan. 2022, without a clear NIL structure from the NCAA, some schools were questioning how to navigate deals for players or whole teams without violating NCAA policy. The existence of world tournaments and professional leagues highlight the reason why female athletes should be paid less than their male counterparts. Why Female Athletes Earn Less Than Men Across Most Sports - Forbes Sports teams know that to stay profitable they need to win, which is why they sign the best players available. In 2009, the WNBA started to allow sponsorship on jerseys in order to boost revenue, a move that the NBA repeated in 2017. Considering athletes spend time commuting to training and competition, female athletes are at 200 per cent greater risk of injuring their neck if even a minor car accident happens. Up until 2020, the WNBA received 20% of their leagues revenues. There is still quite a ways to go to close this gap, but the NWSL is making changes to offer more competitive compensation.