Does anyone else think it is absurd how much money professional athletes make? Movie stars also.

Aaamen!!!! (Continuous long “a”).....Professional athletes and stars are way overpaid. It’s what’s valued though, you know? Until kids and families gain prominence, teachers will qualify for state funded medical insurance (no joke).

no I don’t. Think about it. A beer: 6–10 dollars at a game. Hot dog 7 dollars. Water 4 dollars. Movie tickets 9 dollars. Popcorn 6 dollars. Candy 4 dollars. All that overpriced stuff is going to the actors and athletes. The American people are paying it. That sort if stuff takes re American people away from their busy lives for a couple hour, so they will pay that overpriced amount. And all that money’s got to go somewhere. It just happens to go to the people we see the most. This is just the American way. The rich get richer and the poor get poorer. Gotta love it. (sarcasm)

I think they earn way too much. I have seen many friends and family who earned a living by saving lives and helping people (while putting their lives on the line…not their ankle) never meet their financial goals while some who can bounce a ball well make way more than they can spend. It would be nice to see a great deal of the money made through sports as whole (marketing, game tickets, etc.) go towards the dying, homeless, sick, etc.

You’re also operating under the assumption that there’s some finite pool of money that everybody is grabbing from, as if to say that the poor are poor and teachers are underpaid BECAUSE athletes and celebrities make so much. That’s simply not so.
Also, those salaries are largely based on the the revenue those folks create. Imagine for a second Tiger Woods just up and quits tomorrow. TV golf viewership plummets, nike loses hundreds of millions from his line of gear, the industry that IS Tiger Woods collapses which employs thousands—from merchandisers, to journalists on down. He is the industry. Just like IBM, just like Coke… the man himself is the industry, and entire segments of the population are employed in that industry. Now multiply that times every movie star, and athlete working right now. So, if the man’s sheer presence generates a billion dollars of revenue (my random figure), I’ll lose no sleep over him making what he makes.

No, what’s stupid is the amount of money hedge fund managers make; it makes most movie stars look poor for only pulling in 7–8 mil a year.

Its not the athletes or performers you should get mad at. It’s the people who support it.

Same reason there’s a Starbucks on every corner. They wouldn’t keep building if people stopped buying coffee from every store they spring up.

no their pay is a reflection of projected revenue, its just that regular jobs like teachers police etc should be paid way more cuz they teach protect and guide this people to where they are, they are paid accordingly and its funny that oprah or bill gates could end poverty and taxes would be cheaper thats my deal

Yes we overpay celebs and athletes. I agree that it is our fault.

People are willing to pay $50 for a chance to see the Red Sox, or $200 for a chance to see the Red Sox from a seat where they don’t need binoculars to read the numbers on the jerseys. Millions of people watch them on TV, making advertisers happy. People pay $30 for a T-shirt with a player’s name on it, or $200 for an authentic uniform shirt with a player’s name on it. That’s why pro athletes get paid the big bucks.

Is it overpaid? Hell, people are paying for tickets and watching the games on TV voluntarily, aren’t they?

If I could convince 5 million people to give me $2 each, would I be overpaid?

No you wouldn’t, but some actors and athletes get this money, and seem to loose all common sense. They behave like children or worse, show almost no morals, and get away with crimes that normal people would be locked up for. All because they can pretend well (act) or bounce a ball. People with important skills get zip.

Who decides what’s important? You, or the people deciding what skills they’d rather pay for?

I am thinking about teachers, even police, and firemen. I just think they are way more valuable than actors, sports figures. Just my opinion. I am just looking for others opinions also. I’m trying not to be too judgemental. I may be failing.

People cheerfully and voluntarily give large sums of money to athletes and actors. They wrangle over school and municipal budgets and try to cut every penny from teacher, police, and firefighter salaries. That’s why the actors and athletes get paid millions of dollars, and the teachers, police, and firefighters don’t.

There’s a disconnect her between what people say they value and what they actually do value. Follow the money, and you’ll learn what people consider important.

Its still sad. I wonder what percentage of people do watch sports, and what percentage don’t.

Actors and Athletes are not overpaid. Believe it or not their professions are actually part of a business. They get paid that kind of money because of the money they generate. Just think about how valuable it is to have Derek Jeter on your team. He is worth every penny of his $11M/year (i think) contract because of the money he brings in. He contributes to wins and is the face of the franchise, all of which attract fans, sell tickets and all the over-priced concessions. Not to mention merchandise with his name on it. It’s pure business. He gets that kind of money because he generates more than that for the people writing his checks.

Although nobody wants to pay to see me play any sport,I would gladly do it for what I make on my “normal” job.

No. Athletes and movie stars only make absurd amounts of money because people pay absurd amounts of money to watch them perform. If you don’t buy movie tickets or sports tickets, watch games on TV (making ad space valuable), or buy related ephemera and paraphernalia, then the stars don’t make the money. Since most people do enjoy watching these stars, they do willingly buy these things, and so the stars fairly receive massive amounts of cash. If you want that kind of cash, you have to do something that people will pay money to watch you do. Money isn’t just sitting there waiting for you to redistribute it to teachers, unless you’re in a Communist country. It is owned by private citizens who spend it on what they like.