I think every sane person on the face of planet earth can all agree that professional athletes are grossly overcompensated. Yes, it is our, the fans, that are somewhat responsible for such high contracts but I want to know what the right price you think is fair for a professional athlete to make and than what "superstars" such as lebron, brady, etc should make. I think that a ceo of a fortune 500 company should be making no more than 8-10 million a year, some are making into the hundreds of millions, these individuals are also paid to be consultants, appearance fees and have stock in the company that puts their net wealth much high than a yearly salary so i'll use that as my baseline.
NBA
Bench Player (15-20 appearances a year, journeymen, etc): 1.5 million avg
Role Players (play most games, coming off bench): 2-5 million avg
Stars/Superstars : 5-10. There are only maybe 5 superstars in the nba (lebron, kobe, carmelo (though i think he is quite possibly the most 1 dimensional superstar ever!!!), durant and westbrook) These are the faces of the nba the "CEOs" Adam Silver is the commissioner but he is like the GM, these players run it, if it wasn't for them the nba would be nothing.
MLB
This was a little more difficult to guage. The season is longer, they player spring training and they can go down in the minors, they can also play other signifant roles like pinch hitting/running/ etc and the scope of players and their roles with the team and importance is hard to compare to the nba, but here is my best analysis and will be broken into a few more groups.
Bullpen/Bench Player (situational relievers, utilitymen, and backup position players): 2-4 million.
Like I said this one is a little hard to judge. I can't argue that a closer is anymore important then a reliever that comes in to face a left hander with runners in scoring position and get a ground out...i'm judging it on body of work
Regular Position Player with Avg Stats/Long Relievers : 4-6million
Stars/Superstars: 7-15. Can be pitchers, position players, DH's. The WAR replacement between an avg position player and a star/superstar can be as high as 5-6 which is huge in the MLB.
NFL
I actually won't try to break this league down....it's so complicated and convoluted. Many of the bench players play key special team roles, the backup qb can be huge for a team if the starter goes down and needs to come in for a few games. Superstar running backs that make such a huge impact on a team that it's almost a position that I as a GM would never pay top dollar to get one out side of a draft (Peterson, Johnson etc are the best over the years and they've won how many playoff games? if you want to talk about lynch how'd he do in Buffalo?) Wide receivers are valuable. QB's are valuable and a good o-line. Those are the value positions in my book, Defensive position players are in the 2nd group and than running backs and special teams. That's my breakdown. No NFL player should make more than 12-15 and no less than 2.
what do you think?
I have a hard time saying these players are overpaid when the businesses for which they work generate those huge revenues/profits. They are businesses that rely on unique skills possessed by a relatively few people, and shouldn't those workers thus receive a share of the money they generate? Now, the amount they generate is ridiculous, and the length of contracts that escalate even as players' skills diminish is weird, but again, the workers have some leverage, so I'm hard-pressed to criticize them for getting what they can. I do like the idea of a scaled system that brings some of the lower-paid guys closer to the stars.
ReplyDeleteI have a huge problem with the amount they are paid right up until I realize how much money the businesses generate. The organizations are making money, and the players are getting paid a collectively bargained amount. It is fair in a business sense. On the flip side, I think getting paid millions of dollars to play a game is a bit ridiculous, but I don't think it is so ridiculous that I will stop watching. They make a ton of money, but it is in proportion with what the business makes.
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