Why Professional Athletes Should Be Paid

1474 Words6 Pages
From the board games and wrestling of ancient Egypt to the Olympic games of ancient Greece, sports have played an important role for the entertainment and enjoyment of both participants and observers. Today, sports have become much more than just simple games. Sports now rule the world as a multi-million dollar business. Over the last several decades, salaries for top athletes have skyrocketed in all major professional sports in the United States. Professional athletes enjoy fame and fortune well beyond what they deserve. Although all-star professional athletes have unique talents, the immense pay they receive in relation to their contributions to the good of society overshadows the compensation of other meaningful professions such as teachers and doctors. As the popularity of sports increases rapidly, more and more money continues to flow in and out of the professional sports business. Players, coaches, and owners make millions of dollars through franchises, advertisements, and sponsorships. Professional sports have inherently become a massive business because of their extreme popularity. Americans fill more than 130 million seats each year at the top four professional sports in the United States. With the average professional sports game ticket price at about $57.00 a seat, organizations such as the National Basketball…show more content…
“Doctors’ earnings ranged from about $156,000 a year for pediatricians to about $315,000 for radiologists and orthopedic surgeons” (Sifferlin). With the salary of medical doctors’ significantly lower than the NBA’s minimum salary for a single player, it seems as though entertainment is far more important than our own health and well-being. On a daily basis doctors perform surgeries and make critical decisions that can literally save someone’s life. The actions of NBA players have no such
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