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Professional Athletes Paid

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Are Professional Athletes Paid Too Much? Today’s top professional athletes often have salaries and bonuses in the tens of millions of dollars. Athletes do not deserve such high compensation. There are various social, economical, emotional, and psychological reasons why professional athletes should not be paid as much. Jane Hanigan, who has taught in the Council Bluffs Community School District for nearly 20 years, expresses concern about the excessively high rate of compensation professional athletes earn. Hanigan states, "Over the years, I have known a great number of my students who were lured by the image of what being a professional athlete might offer them. Regrettably, the reality for these students often falls vastly short. It is …show more content…
We argue that athletes are being paid too much, but we support them by watching them on television and by attending their events. In America, sports is a large form of entertainment, and entertainment has become an enormous part of our culture. A very big percentage of the athlete’s earnings comes from spectators. For example, if you were to go to an NBA game, the average cost for a ticket would be from $30 to $123 ("NBA Average Ticket Prices by Team 2014/15 | Statistic."). Athletes are being paid too much for a “job” that anyone can have. Anyone can become an extraordinary athlete after enough practice and training. Kobe Bryant earns $37,940 for every field goal he makes. Kobe Bryant makes more money in two field goals than the average American worker makes in a year (The Average Career Earnings of Athletes across America's Major Sports Will Shock You."). We are also supporting them by buying over-priced clothing items. Most of the time, it does not matter whether the name of a sports team is across the front of your clothing. Big companies like Nike, Adidas, Under Armour, and big retailers like Dick’s Sporting Goods and Sports Authority sponsor sporting events, and supply the athletes with uniforms and equipment ("New Deal Establishes Nike as League's Official Uniform Provider."). Gatorade and Powerade are also known to be sponsors. Good taste in fashion and …show more content…
Teachers, for example, are not paid as much as they should. When looking at a different perspective, people might think it is okay for professional athletes to earn so much money because their career is so short. What qualities do professional athletes obtain that make their paychecks larger than that of an oncologist, accountant, or a teacher? All of these people are being paid to do what they love. The football player loves to play football, and the teacher also loves to teach. But what makes these two people so different? The only thing that separates these two people is society. In today’s society, the majority of people would much rather go to a professional sporting event than to go to school and learn. When school becomes tougher, teenagers will be okay with the idea of dropping out of high school but will still persevere their dream of becoming a pro athlete. Being an athlete does not require a lot of knowledge, but a lot of physical strength and agility. Teachers and people of other professions have gone through years and years of schooling, only to receive a sliver of what they paid for college tuition. They spend most of their life paying student loans and giving back to the

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