Professional Athlete Salaries

What they have came to be
By: Brandon Akins



Source: Salary Comparison

On October 18, 2012 we spoke upon a very relevant topic in class that is very present in today

society of sports. this topic was professional athletes salaries and what they became over the years. This is a very relevant topic to sports because in the past several years three major leagues had player lockouts one still currently in session (hockey) and a referee lockout. Quickly I want you to take a look at the comparison chart I have provided above, and that gives you an idea of what I will be talking about in this blog. As you can see in this chart found in the article "Clyde Drexler on the Dream Team, then and now" that over the past 20 years the salaries of the NBA's finest players have in some cases quadrupled. You take the the highest earner from the 2012 team (Kobe Bryant) and then compare him to the highest earner on the 1992 Dream Team (David Robinson) and the results are mind blowing. Kobe makes almost 5x what David did and almost 20x as the lowest earner on the 1992 Dream Team (Clyde Drexler) and these figures are annually based. These results remain true for almost every other major league TEAM sport (NFL, NHL, and MLB). Now since this is the case that lets face it Pro salaries have became a tad bit outrageous this brings major conflict. Owners of teams have became worried as of late of some of the blockbuster deals that have been taking place, and hence some of the lockouts owners feel like the players are receiving to much money and they don't want them to be able to monopolize sports. On the other hand the players feel as if they don't get enough money from outside sources other then their base salaries, such as merchandise, ticket sales, etc. The players then go on "strike" until they can meet a tentative deal with the owners. In the past 12 years there have be some contracts to remember. Here is a list you can see that has the top 10 biggest sports contracts ever "The Biggest Contracts in American Sports: Top 10" , notice how all but the expect of one are contracts from 2001-present and that Alex Rodriguez made the list more than once. if you can remember Peyton Manning current Quarter Back for the Denver Broncos formerly with the Indianapolis Colts signed one of the biggest contracts in NFL history with the Colts which is on that list. This past year he signed a 4-year $96 million contract with the Denver Broncos which was front loaded and will be earning $40+ million in 2012. It's not just the players whose salaries are growing at alarming rates either but also the coaches. Nick Saban head coach of the Alabama Crimson Tide is the highest paid College football coach in the NCAA today (Extension makes Nick Saban highest paid coach).
Now in the text on page 382 of Coakley's text there is a chart of Average salaries in major U.S. professional leagues, compared with the median U.S. family income from 1950-2008. For the major four major (NFL, NBA, NHL, MLB) leagues it was the same or similar change, it went from about $5,000-$13,000 to an avg. salaries between the four of $2,679,250 compared to the family income that only increased $54,480 ($4,000- $58,480) over the 60 year span.This is very similar or the same chart we as a class looked over. Given the facts stated in this blog do you think professional athletes are overpaid or do your think they deserve all the money they receive?




 



Source: Peyton Manning

Source: Nick Saban