Why professional athletes are not overpaid and 3 reasons we should stop griping about their salaries.
It has become far too commonplace to scrutinize the pay scale of the modern-day athlete.
We gripe about it too much (I’ve been guilty of this in the past as well) and quite frankly, it’s getting annoying.
I get it, I use to feel the same way too.
Why are athletes getting paid so much money to run around and essentially play a game?
It has taken me a while to come to this realization but I’ve come to accept it as fair.
Sure, it appears glamorous to play the game that you love on national television while the live crowd oh’s and ah’s at your every move but athlete’s work hard for their money.
It never was our business what another man or woman earns on their paycheck but the national media has made salary contracts a topic for public consumption so let’s address it.
Here are 3 reasons why we should stop complaining about the amount of money that professional athletes earn:
They work harder than you think
Just because they are playing “a game” doesn’t mean that they don’t work hard.
Many of us have played sports growing up but how many of us worked hard enough at it to earn a college scholarship let alone compete at the highest level (professionally)?
The idea of believing that these people were born with the incredible skills that they have clearly developed is getting old.
The best players in their respective sport work every hour on the hour to perfect their craft.
People are willing to pay hundreds of dollars to watch them perform
When was the last time you did anything well enough that someone was willing to pay to watch you execute your talent?
It doesn’t have to be a sport because the same goes for musicians, dancers, magicians, you name it.
The point is, when you’re good at something and can sellout a stadium, you deserve to take home a nice healthy salary.
After all, people go to sporting events to see their favorite player, otherwise they could get their entertainment fix watching the men or women’s league at the YMCA.
You don’t get what you deserve in life
One of the biggest mistakes we make is thinking that we deserve to be successful. As Jalen Rose eloquently says: “In life, you don’t get what you deserve but only what you have the leverage to negotiate”.
You think Lebron James has built a lot of leverage for himself as a basketball player?
He can pretty much quit basketball right now and earn millions for the rest of his life on endorsement deals alone because he has leveraged the skill that he has to play a game to become a global icon.
It’s not about what you deserve to get, it is only about what you put yourself in position to negotiate to get and professional athletes have created the leverage they need to deservedly earn the salaries they command.