Thesis statement: Professional athletes deserve their salaries because of the job growth they create, their skill level, and the degree of revenue that they generate for their team owner.
Sources:
* Gwen Burrow, Economic Modeling, Not Just a Game; The Impact of Sports on the U.S. Economy (2013) http://www.economicmodeling.com/2013/07/09/not-just-a-game-the-impact-of-sports-on-u-s-economy/
Summary of article: Gwen burrow talked about the job growth created by the sports industry. The industry creates about 456,000 jobs that pay an average of $39,000. This is a lot of jobs that sports create.
Credibility: Gwen Burrow, is a writer for Economic modeling. Economic Modeling is a data company who helps organizations connect better with people.
Relevance: In this scenario, they have captured necessary data to understand how sports benefits the economy. The data they found is the amount of jobs are created because of sports.
* Angelo Spaminato, World Stadiums, Past and Future (2016) http://www.worldstadiums.com/stadium_menu/past_future/future_stadiums.shtml
Summary of article: This website has a list of every sports stadium in the world. It has information on stadiums that are already in use, being built, and announced. Currently there are 9 stadiums being built or announced in America.
Credibility: World Stadiums is the most comprehensive website on the internet about sports stadiums in the Unites States.
Relevance: According to World Stadiums, currently, there are 9 stadiums in America either announced or currently being built. This is relevant because it adds to my point that sports industry creates job growth.
* NFL Players Association, Average time length for a player (2014) http://www.nflplayers.com/user/template.aspx?fmid=181&lmid=349&pid=0&type=l#a3
Summary of article: Athletes only last 2-5 years depending on their sport and position. Athletes make a lot of money, but they don’t make it for very long and often don’t have a college degree to fall back on. This organization is the player’s union. The info within this website is created to educate the players.
Credibility: The NFL players Association is a credible source because they represent the players of the National Football League. They are the union for the players. Their job is to represent them and to offer education to the players in varies areas.
Relevant: Annotation in essay: According to the NFLPA (2014), National Football League players last an average of 3.5 years in the league. I used this source because it helps explain my point of how hard it is to make it to a professional sports team and have a long career.
* Jonathon Abrams/Rothstein Murman, New York Times, N.B.A Players Make Their Way Back to College (2009) http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/06/sports/basketball/06nba.html?_r=0
Summary of article: This article explains the short carrers NBA players have. It also goes into detail about players find their way back to college. Only 21% of NBA players finish college. After their very short career, most aren’t lucky enough to get a job in the sports industry. They don’t have a college degree to fall back on either.
Credibility: This source is a credible source because New York Times is one of the largest, credible, news organizations in the world. Jonathon Abrams and Rothstein Murman are writers for the New York Times.
Relevant: I used this source to explain the short career of a National Basketball association player. Only 21% of NBA players finish college. NBA players have to be at the top of their game. The league only hires the best of the best.
* Forbes, The Los Angeles Lakers, (2016) http://www.forbes.com/teams/los-angeles-lakers/
Summary of article In this article, Forbes explains the revenue the Los Angeles Lakers earned last year. They had a yearly revenue of $304 million and an operating income of $133.4 million.
Credibility: Forbes is a trusted source. Forbes is an American Business Magazine. They are a credible source for information about business’s such as the Los Angeles Lakers.
Relevant: I used this source to further explain how much money sports teams create due to the athletes. According to Forbes (2016), the Lakers organization brings in a yearly revenue of $304 million with an operating income of $133.4 million.
* Tom Van Riper, Forbes, “Kobe Bryant Has Made Hundreds of Millions for the Lakers. Let Him Do What He Wants, 2014 http://www.forbes.com/sites/tomvanriper/2014/11/11/kobe-bryant-has-made-hundreds-of-millions-for-lakers-let-him-do-what-he-wants/#2074ca1b5071
Summary of article: Kobe Bryant is finishing his last of twenty seasons in the National Basketball Association. He has played all twenty seasons with the Los Angeles Lakers. This year, his salary is an NBA leading, $25 million. He isn’t very good anymore. Age has got to him.
Credibility: Tom Van Riper is a writer for Forbes. Forbes is a trusted source. Forbes is an American Business Magazine. They are a credible source for information about business’s such as the Los Angeles Lakers.
Relevant: I used this source to continue to prove my point that players are salesman for their team Kobe has generated hundreds of million for the Lakers. All the teams in the league have increased in value over the last twenty years. No team has increased in value the way the Lakers have. Kobe is a big part of this. It’s not because of it being in Los Angeles. If this were the case, the Los Angeles Clippers would be worth similar money and they aren’t. The Lakers had Kobe, the best sales person in the league in the past 20 years.
* Cork Gaines, Buisiness Insider, the Mayweather-Pacquiao fight numbers are in – they shattered expectations by tens of millions of dollars, (2015) http://www.businessinsider.com/floyd-mayweather-manny-pacquiao-revenue-2015-5
Summary of article: Cork Gaines, with Business Insider (2015) reports that the fought was purchased through Pay Per View, 4.4 million times. Other programs offered the fight for purchase as well. This was the highest sold though. Pay Per View for instance charged $100 for high definition and $90 for standard definition. Its estimated that over $500 million was generated for one fight.
Credibility: Cork Gaines is a writer with business insider, a trusted business news site. Business Insider is a fast growing business site with focuses on finances, media, and tech.
Relevant: I decided to use this source and article because it shows an example of how much money Americans spend to watch their favorite Athletes. People complain that athletes make so much money, well, we pay to watch them. The fight between Mayweather and Pacquiao generated over $500 million. This fight was not even a good fight. Most fans considered it to be boring, yet we spent a combined $500 million anyways.
* Chris Martin, The Sportster, Top 15 who shockingly went broke, (2014) http://www.thesportster.com/entertainment/top-15-athletes-who-shockingly-went-broke/
Summary of article: According to Chris Martin with the Sportster (2014), “78 percent of all NFL players are either under substantial financial stress or bankrupt with two years after their career. For NBA ballers, that figure is 60% within five years of being out of the league.”
Credibility: Chris Martin is a writer for the sportster. The sportster is a reputable brand that writes articles about current sporting events and interesting sports facts.
Relevant: This article goes with a counter argument within my research paper. Often when people complain about athletes and their salaries they mention how bad these guys are with their money. I used this trusted site because it shows that most athletes are not smart with their money. A large percentage of them (about 60%) go broke after 5 years of leaving their professional league. This is a common reason people believe athletes shouldn’t be paid high salaries.
* Gabrielle McMillen, The Sporting News, No NFL players arrested for the first time in six years, (2015) http://www.sportingnews.com/nfl-news/4656986-no-nfl-players-arrested-september-calendar-month-record
Summary of article: This article talks about a month in 2015 where the NFL had no arrests to any of its players for the first time in 6 years.
Credibility: Gabrielle McMillen is a writer for the Sporting News. They are a reputable sports new site that follows and writes about all major sports. They write about current sporting events and even interesting facts and comparisons to sports in the past.
Relevant: This particular article is an example of why people think professional athletes should not be paid their high salaries. It talks about a month in 2015 that happened to be the first month in over 6 years where an active professional football player was not arrested. According to Gabrielle McMillen with Sporting News (2015), September of 2015 was the first calendar month in over 6 years when an active player in the NFL was not arrested. 