Today, professional athletes are one of the most overpaid careers in the country. Baseball players make more than a teacher, and football players earn more than a doctor. These everyday jobs teach students and save people’s lives. However, they do not earn as much money as an athlete, who gets paid for playing a game. These professional athletes cause an unbalanced power in society.
Today, professional athletes get a high salary for just playing a game. Baseball players in the Major League Baseball earn an average pay of $1.37 million per year. The average salary for a basketball player in the National Basketball Association is $2.2 million every year. However, a teacher only makes $38,000 annually. A doctor, who saves lives everyday, earns about $130,000 a year. These athletes are mainly for entertainment, but earn more than these important careers.
Hockey players, in the National Hockey League earn a paycheck of about $892,000 each year. A National Football league player can earn about $795,000 every year. In the United States, a fireman averages about $40,000 annually; this is not even close to the amount a football player makes. Police officers average a paycheck of about $29,000, this seems very small when comparing it to the high paying salary of these professional athletes.
Professional athletes earning this much money is negative because they are basically playing a game, which many people play everyday for free, however they get paid thousands and millions of dollars. Many people, such as firefighters, solders, and policemen, risks their lives on a daily basis and still do not make even close to the salary of a pro athlete. Teachers spend at least eight hours a day teaching the children in the country to get an education and earn roughly $40,000 a year. Professional athletes are earning more money than these important employees and creating a bad reputation. This reputation represents that the United States believe that athletes are more important the teachers, policemen, firefighters, and doctors and therefore should earn more money each year.
The high paying salary draws young athletes to the professional leagues at young ages. Because the salary is set at a high price, it attracts young players to the leagues. This is an objective because many students stop their schooling to get drafted into the major leagues. Some students skip college or leave early, learning no education or degree. Each year, younger athletes are being drafted into the professional leagues and resulting in a lower education.
The high paying salary of the professional athletes is not only the leagues or the player’s faults but also the fans. Fans pay high ticket prices and purchase expensive sports wear. All this money goes to the league, the owners, the teams, and the players. The fans are also at fault for the high salary of these athletes.
Watching these athletes and the sports they play is entertainment to many fans. Movie stars earn millions of dollars for the production of one movie. This salary can range from about fifteen to twenty million dollars per movie. If movie stars get paid for entertaining people through movies and television, than athletes should earn this amount too. They are being paid for entertainment not for playing a game. Professional athletes should earn this salary, just like actors and actresses, for giving entertainment.
Athletes practice all year, whether the season is on or off. These players must train to become stronger, faster, and better so they are good enough to play and earn this high salary. They must work out and practice all the time. These players get rewarded for their hard work and effort they put in to become better for themselves, the fans, and their team. They deserved this high salary and are not overpaid because of all the hard work that it takes to be a professional athlete.
Some athletes use their salary for more important things. For example, many athletes donate their money to charities and organizations. These charities may be for children or adults, people with disease or suffer from an illness. Some athletes put their money to better use by supporting a charity. This is positive affect of the high salary of many professional athletes.
Professional athletes are one of the most overpaid careers in the United States today. Their high salary causes less education, an unbalanced power of jobs, and a bad reputation. These athletes deserve a wealthy salary but should not earn more money than these everyday jobs that are so important. Something must be done to create an equal balance of importance and decrease the salary of these professional athletes so they are not overpaid.