How much should professional athletes make?

[Tinkermommy]

Professional athletes are trading their talents and abilities for pay. They are going to get the most money they can for their time and talent.

This is no different that what most of us working folks do. We find a career where we can use our talents and abilities and then get negotiate to get the most money/compensation we can.

If you had one of the rare talents where you could earn millions of dollars a year, would you turn it down? I sure wouldn't.

As for stadiums and other corporations getting tax money or tax breaks, they only get that if the city thinks it will beneficial for them. They hope to create jobs, industry and revenue from those projects. And most of the time is is a boon to that cities economy.

And for the pp who wanted the government to set wages . There aren't enough smilies for that one!

 

[Melmac]

As long as I'm not paying the salary through my taxes what anyone else makes doesn't matter at all to me, even if they are paid millions of dollars to do what is basically an unnecessary function in society.

Football is an unnecessary function in society?? No one has ever told me that

BTW, I agree with you.

 

[FireDancer]

There are plenty of businesses that bring money to an area, like Disney World for example. Are they built with taxpayer money? How about movies studios? Are they funded by the taxpayers?

Yes, in many cases they at least partially paid for with taxes, either directly or indirectly. Disney World got a lot of money from the state of Florida for building there. They were even granted their own tax authority which means that some of the tax revenue the state would have collected is funneled directly to Disney which has the same net effect as FL collecting the tax and just handing it to Disney, much like a lot of stadium projects.

They do it because collecting less tax dollars from companies is better than collecting none because some other city gave them a tax break to shoot their film or relocate their corporate headquarters there.

 

[Donaldswife]

I hope this doesn't come across as snarky, because it is not meant to be at all. I am just curious on whether you would have preferred the Colts to move to a different city than use your tax dollars to help pay for their new stadium?

I did not take it as snarky, and it is a fair question.

To be honest I don't know if I would have preferred them to move or not. We are season ticket holders (my DH is a football fanatic!) I have Disney and he has football. I go to several games a year, happily with my husband since it is what he loves. IMO, it is not worth the cost or hassle. If it were solely up to me we would not have tickets, and he would have "donated" extra money to the stadium cause by ordering special Colts license plates. I think the cost of the stadium and the "deal" our "wonderful" local politicians was ridiculous and completely one sided. At the time (may or may not still be true) Lucas Oil was the most heavily taxpayer subsidized project in the country.

I guess you can say my house is divided on the subject. Personally, the Colts can go away and our city and state leaders can focus on bringing jobs to the city and state, keeping our graduates from our top rated universities from leaving the state, and stop writing letters to the NFL begging them to come to an agreement on salaries so the Super Bowl will still come to town. I say pay the players whatever the market will bear, as long as you aren't taking the taxpayers for a ride with new stadiums and deals that line your own pockets. I don't blame the players for what they make (though it does seem ridiculous) but I know they would make less if owners had to pay for their fields themselves. I think that gives me right to an opinion on their inflated salaries.

 

[DaParkers]

Lucas Oil Stadium in Indy, where I live.

Cost of stadium $750 million, owner only had to cover 13% and got that paid for by selling the naming rights to Lucas Oil so his OOP was $0. Operating expenses are covered by our CIB at $20 million per year, while revenues are only $7 million, the rest being covered by tax reserve funds. That's $652 million covered by taxpayers, plus $13 million (or more with ever continuing energy price increases) a year. Also, tax money paid to break the lease on the old RCA dome was $48 million & $70 million to pay off the debt still owed on the old RCA dome at the time it was demolished.

All because the owner threatened to move the team without a new stadium, and city officials salivating at the chance to host the 2012 Super Bowl, which may very well not happen.

That's not billions. Once again, these companies cannot operate without support. If the people cared that much, then they would not support them. Also, these venues are NOT only used for their teams. Is Lucas Oil Stadium just sitting dormant when the Colts are not using it? One more question. Who built the Stadium? A lot of the taxpayers money went back to the taxpayers that built it.

 

[brerrabbit]

The amount of money any company or business owner is willing to pay an individual employee, player, actor, etc. is directly correlated to the value that individual is able to create. A star quarterback that leads your team to a Super Bowl championship is worth a lot because it generates the sale of team related items, it makes the team worth more to TV who buy the television rights, it makes fans willing to pay more money for tickets, and in the end generates piles of cash. This is true everywhere and is really the driving force in setting pay scales all across the business spectrum. Everything else is nice like if you get your Masters your company will pay you $500 extra a year, but that is a trivial amount and the real driver is what are you worth financially to the company. In the teachers thread I gave an example of a trader who generated huge income for his company and got million dollar bonuses. Its the same principle. No matter how hard you work, no matter how many degrees you have, no matter how hard your job is, the driving force in your rate of pay is related to you economic value to the company and the demand for your specialty. As far a players getting more money because theri careers are shorter, that has nothing to do with their pay scale. The dispute between owners and players right now is that the owners want to keep more of the overall revenue and give less to the players.

As far as stadiums go at least where I live the voters had to approve the county construction and financing of the football stadium and the team owner paid very little for it. As far as I know voters always have to approve such expenditures. Team owners hold the cards here and always threaten to take their team and leave if you won't play ball with them. In Houston we got tired of Bud Adams and his threats and said bye bye. He took the team to Tennessee. Sure I missed the Oilers but I sure didn't miss Bud Adams.

Finally someone posted early on about the government establishing wages and redistributing wealth and while someone else said that was Socialism, I could not help but think when I read it that it actually sounded more like a classic definition of Communism.

 

[disney11fan]

I couldn't resist.

With all of the teacher-bashing going on (and yes, I'm a teacher), I wonder what you all think of NFL and MLB players and the millions that they "earn".

And even though I posted this tongue-in-cheek, my answer is that is makes me sick.

Let's take that money and roll it into education and see what a difference it could make in the wilting school systems across the country. I'm so tired of my salary being common fodder for debate.

Just sayin'.............

very simple. as much as they can. if you turn on espn or yes or any other sports channel you support the players ..the owners and the companies that buy the advertising. i have no problem with what there making. i disagree with throwing money at education. in new york it doesn't work.

 

[brerrabbit]

That's not billions. Once again, these companies cannot operate without support. If the people cared that much, then they would not support them. Also, these venues are NOT only used for their teams. Is Lucas Oil Stadium just sitting dormant when the Colts are not using it? One more question. Who built the Stadium? A lot of the taxpayers money went back to the taxpayers that built it.

Prospective future benifits aside in our current economic situation across the US I am sure that there are numerous cities, counties and states that wish the tax dollars going to repay the bonds floated to build these facilities were available to do more basic things like fix roads, pay teachers, and fund pension commitments that were made to workers. Many stadiums were built with the assurance that as long as we continue to grow we can generate the funds needed to finance the stadiums via revinues from hotel taxes, car rental taxes, and increased tax revenues from visitors and conventions. Well last time I checked less people were traveling and there are not as many conventions and if there are they are not necessarily going all over the country to have them.

I agree that there is a need at times for new and better facilities to benifit the community. I just wish that the communities could make those decisions on their own time table and not be forced into them by the threats of the local profession sports teams owners.

 

[Donaldswife]

That's not billions. Once again, these companies cannot operate without support. If the people cared that much, then they would not support them. Also, these venues are NOT only used for their teams. Is Lucas Oil Stadium just sitting dormant when the Colts are not using it? One more question. Who built the Stadium? A lot of the taxpayers money went back to the taxpayers that built it.

The number will be over a billion in a few years with the operating deficit. I apologize for saying billions instead of billion, it was an error on my part.

The stadium was designed by out of state architects and out of state construction managers who used a combination of local labor and out of state labor. So there were some temporary jobs, but not enough to justify the cost, IMO.

It does not sit dormant all the time, but it is only used a handful of times outside of Colts games, hence the operating costs begin much more the annual revenues. Conseco fieldhouse is also downtown and is a better size to host most events in the area. Lucas Oil is too large for most of the concerts and entertainment acts that come to the area, not to mention the acoustics in that type of venue are horrible for the events that are held there. There are a couple of Supercross and Monster trucks shows there, and maybe two or three concerts a year, as well as High school band competitions but that is it outside of when Indy hosts the Final Four. The convention center and Conseco Fieldhouse have events several times a week and are much more conducive for most events.

 

[Minnie_me]

i disagree with throwing money at education. in new york it doesn't work.

I teach in New York.........nobody's throwing money at us. We've had a cut of about 6% in our school budget for 3 years in a row. We're losing teachers and programs left and right. All the while, the state continues to make the standards for learning more and more rigorous. How are we expected to meet their demands if they keep forcing us to sacrifice staff, materials and programs?

It's like paddling a boat, upstream, and the boat is leaking.

 

[Planogirl]

Any worker should simply make what the market offers. Within reason that is. In a free market, the result isn't always fair but it is what it is.

 

[DaParkers]

The number will be over a billion in a few years with the operating deficit. I apologize for saying billions instead of billion, it was an error on my part.

The stadium was designed by out of state architects and out of state construction managers who used a combination of local labor and out of state labor. So there were some temporary jobs, but not enough to justify the cost, IMO.

It does not sit dormant all the time, but it is only used a handful of times outside of Colts games, hence the operating costs begin much more the annual revenues. Conseco fieldhouse is also downtown and is a better size to host most events in the area. Lucas Oil is too large for most of the concerts and entertainment acts that come to the area, not to mention the acoustics in that type of venue are horrible for the events that are held there. There are a couple of Supercross and Monster trucks shows there, and maybe two or three concerts a year, as well as High school band competitions but that is it outside of when Indy hosts the Final Four. The convention center and Conseco Fieldhouse have events several times a week and are much more conducive for most events.

Prospective future benifits aside in our current economic situation across the US I am sure that there are numerous cities, counties and states that wish the tax dollars going to repay the bonds floated to build these facilities were available to do more basic things like fix roads, pay teachers, and fund pension commitments that were made to workers. Many stadiums were built with the assurance that as long as we continue to grow we can generate the funds needed to finance the stadiums via revinues from hotel taxes, car rental taxes, and increased tax revenues from visitors and conventions. Well last time I checked less people were traveling and there are not as many conventions and if there are they are not necessarily going all over the country to have them.

I agree that there is a need at times for new and better facilities to benifit the community. I just wish that the communities could make those decisions on their own time table and not be forced into them by the threats of the local profession sports teams owners.

You both have valid points.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

I couldn't resist.

With all of the teacher-bashing going on (and yes, I'm a teacher), I wonder what you all think of NFL and MLB players and the millions that they "earn".

And even though I posted this tongue-in-cheek, my answer is that is makes me sick.

Let's take that money and roll it into education and see what a difference it could make in the wilting school systems across the country. I'm so tired of my salary being common fodder for debate.

Just sayin'.............

It is easy to say "take that money and roll it into education"--but that would never happen. People aren't magically going to take their season ticket and merchandising spending money and donate it to their local school.

Taxpayer money doesn't pay the ballplayer's salary. Although it does help provide pretty venues that entertain citizens seasonally, which encourages them to spend more money on these teams that pay their players so handsomely.

Sports is a niche and while the folks who want to play professionally are a dime a dozen, the folks that are good enough are extremely rare.

Maybe instead of comparing apples and oranges, we start getting endorsement deals for teachers. Put them on a wheaties box.

 

[Acklander]

Sports teams bring in a lot of money and I think it's fair that they compensate the players well for their contribution. Otherwise the money would just stay with the owners, it wouldn't go to teachers.
We want all the benefits of a larger tax base, without actually paying the taxes. It doesn't work that way. You can have a politian run his election on the platform that he's going to lower the taxes, and everyone gets excited, after all who doesn't want more money in their paycheck each week? and what you have now is the results of that - not enough money. The problem is when you reduce the taxes - even by a small percent - what the middle class, working class and poor lose (lack of services) is much more than what they gain (an extra few hundred dollars a year). The only people who benefit are the wealthy because what they lose in services, they can just buy for themselves - but what they gain is a heck of a lot more than a few hundred extra dollars a year.

 

[nexttripdisney]

Totally agree the government should have some sort of payscale for all occupations, those that make more than scale should have to relinquish to the government so that they can reapportion the money to another more worthy person/occupation.

Maybe they should start with Janet Hill??

Hey--let's get some politicians to decide how much money Janet Hill deserves to keep out of her income and then decide who deserves the money she doesn't get to keep! Yeah! That'll work!

Seriously, I'm only kidding. That's a scary statement. Too many people think government should have much more power than they already do.

 

[Janet Hill]

Maybe they should start with Janet Hill??

Hey--let's get some politicians to decide how much money Janet Hill deserves to keep out of her income and then decide who deserves the money she doesn't get to keep! Yeah! That'll work!

Seriously, I'm only kidding. That's a scary statement. Too many people think government should have much more power than they already do.

You're right it is scary, but it seems everyone can find a reason why their profession is the one that is most agrieved (sp?) and needs some sort of "intervention". Where will it end?

Oh and no thanks the government already takes too much of my money and spends it in ways I think unnecessary and extravagant.

So of course my sarcastic comment was just a reply to all of the threads on how much certain professions are worth.

 

[goofy4prez]

I teach in New York.........nobody's throwing money at us. We've had a cut of about 6% in our school budget for 3 years in a row. We're losing teachers and programs left and right. All the while, the state continues to make the standards for learning more and more rigorous. How are we expected to meet their demands if they keep forcing us to sacrifice staff, materials and programs?

It's like paddling a boat, upstream, and the boat is leaking.

I feel for you, I truly do. However, your situation is not just with the occupation of teachers. With my business (insurance), commissions, which is my only source of income for my business have been reduced 20% in the last 5 years, taxes are continually going up, my medical expenses for my employees are up 35% in just 3 years, workers comp premiums keeps going up, supplies keep going up, etc etc etc. In addition to that, the state keeps making the standards more demanding and rigorous with continuing education requirements. This doesn't even include people reducing insurance coverages to save money or the number of homes in foreclosure and no longer have insurance. This economy has a very negative effect on my bottom line.

Like you, it is difficult to not sacrifice staff, bonus's, and incentives I have given out. To date, I have not laid off anyone and have given their bonus's and pay increases. But I'm not so sure I can say that for the next year. Again, I truly sympathize with you I truly do. You and I along with many others are in that same boat paddling upstream. But I think most of us have had a major impact on our daily lives with the way things are today.

 

[allison443]

Totally agree the government should have some sort of payscale for all occupations, those that make more than scale should have to relinquish to the government so that they can reapportion the money to another more worthy person/occupation.

I think this poster is being sarcastic. However, if you think about it, that's what a lot of people are suggesting. Someone suggested salary caps imposed by who, the government? "let's redirect this money to education"-you mean the redistribution of wealth by, again, the government?

This doesn't sound like capitalism, supply and demand, etc. and aren't those what our economic system is based on.

Isn't this starting to sound like "From each according to his ability, to each according to his need?"
I'm sure all the disers know who said that!!

 

[taitai]

It became my business when the owner of the team asked for billions of dollars for a new stadium at taxpayer expense for "his" business.

Actually, if this bothers you, then Jerry Jones is not the person towards whom you should direct your anger. I would start with your state legislature who approved the funds. Or the Governor who approved the funds. Or your fellow citizens who voted for the referendum approving the funds. Jerry Jones just asked. It was EVERYONE else who said yes. They could have said no.

If you are not happy with the decisions of the government in Texas, then move to a different state or vote the people out who make the decisions you don't like.

It is a market economy. Supply and demand. Athletes only get paid what the market will allow.

 

[joviroxx]

So of course my sarcastic comment was just a reply to all of the threads on how much certain professions are worth.

Phew! I must admit I missed the sarcasm... Thank goodness, I thought we had some true communists on this board!!


As far as stadiums.. I think people can underestimate the affect a good stadium can have on your local economys. Superbowls bring in so much that the revenue generated by the government in hotel taxes, sales taxes and such and to private business is invaluable. Those high salaries also mean more money being spent, more taxes collected. I think I can safely say that the people hired by these mulitmillionaire athletes, the salespeople who sold them their vehicles, the private school teachers who have a job and the real estate agents who sold them their homes are REALLY happy they make the money they do.

Again, what private businesses pay their employees has never been a concern of mine. More power to them if they can make this kind of money. People need to learn to speak with their wallets when they don't like things.