why do baseball players get paid a lot?

Question

do you think that it's fair that a-rod gets paid like $23 million a yr?
most baseball players sit on their *** all day to wait for their turns...why is it they get paid so much while intense sport like wrestling, hockey players don't get paid as much (although i already think hockey players are paid a lot)
with a $20 million salary, they can buy like 40 houses in one year while the rest have to pay off mortgage for like 20 yrs
sorry if i sound upset

Answer 1

Because major league baseball makes a lot of money. The money either goes to the players or the owners.

Answer 2

It has to do with economics. People are willing to pay to see their favorite players play. So, the teams with the most money (in this case, the Yankees because they keep winning and their fans keep watching) are able to afford to pay for better players through endorsements and sponsorships from large corporations.

They may not be more talented than you or I. It certainly doesn't make sense in the big scheme of things to pay more for an athlete than to pay for a teacher at Harvard, for instance, but that is the way of our sick world.

If you want fair, go to India. Teachers are considered royalty. But, then, only the top 10% of children, whether they have the talent or not, can afford to get into the university of their choice because they don't have the strong economic backbone that we have. So, they send their children over here to be educated and learn how to play and watch baseball.

Answer 3

because when you play sport that has a total of 162 games a year and then adding the playoffs it is physicaly and mentally exhausting, and they dont just sit around on their ***es all day either, have you seen any highlights of Aaron Rowand running full speed into a fence, Matsui completely destroying his wrist going after a ball, and just recently Rafael Soriano got hit in the head by line drive off the bat of Vladimir Gurrerro and the ball was going at least 120 mph when it hit him, so why dont you rethink your question, and nobody else here knows what they are talking about except ChiCub26

Answer 4

Some of these players sell tickets....like when Mark McGuire was in his home run record chase. The Cardinals weren't that great a team that year, but every game was sold out because of him. These type of players draw in the crowds. I agree that the amount of money they make for hitting a ball seems ridiculous and it is, but it's a business. I heard that Mark McGuire that year got $1 for every seat that was filled every game as a bonus.

Answer 5

Econ 101. MLB generates more revenue period. ther never has been any correlation between sweat and pay or all Third World sweatshop workers would be millionaires.

If it bothers you so much don't watch. That is what pays their salaries, so many people watching baseball on TV drives the TV contracts up.

Answer 6

Previous responses have pretty wel covered this one, except:

Because people PAY them a lot. Rightly or wrongly, sports is a big business, with a lot of money. Personally, I think Social Workers should make the BIG money, but our society pays better to those few who can throw at 100 mph.

Answer 7

getting paid alot in baseball has more to do with contract negotiation than with a players performance. player performance helps alot but get a good agent and even a minors player can get a good salaryThe last I heard the minimum was 300K for a majors player according to the lat player/owner negotiation. experience helps loads. you gotta start at the bottom but the better negotiator your agent is the higher your paycheck. of course, your agent is going to take a percentage of that whopping paycheck for his or her services. Some teams will split the bill when you get traded. Mike Hamton is one example. He got traded between I believe the rockies the braves and one other team. Even though he only played for the braves and the rockies, that other team had to pay part of his salary. He is currently residing with the braves. If a player doens't have a good year and his cotnract is up, he may not have as much power at the negotiation table and that is why performance counts. being upset is understanable. I'd LOVE to pay off my parents mortgage! It's frustrating to see someone else go out there spend what seems like only three hours working and get about 3000 bucks for the night while you toil for the boss and uncle sam hacks off a hefty chunck of 35 K for an entire year! Totally! Why wouldn't you be? These guys have to train and they also have to save up in case they get a career ending injury. most jobs aren't one where they might be out of work though. They get to the ballpark 5 hours before the game and leave 45 minutes to an hour after the game so they are there longer than it looks like. they also do alot of charity work and have to go out of twon and leave their families for logn periods of time. they can only take their familes on two trips that the team will pay for. any more and THEY have to pay. they only get a certain number of tickets. They also have to seriously check out their charities so as not to be scammed because they get ALOT of requests. Things are looking pretty unfair from your side of the fence but you do need to try to pictue it from their side too. This is a job where you see you family only half of the summer. It's kinda like the military if you think about it, only alot more glamorous looking. People ALWAYS want something from you. Your boss wants you to go places. you are always on display in public and you may be approached by fans wanting pictures an autographs from fans during dinner. I personally have been told about players eating with their familes and fans have seen them but they think its rude to approach them. With the development of the cell phones and the cameras in them there's the chance of someone snapping a photo of you so you at least have to try to look somewhat presentable in case it winds up on the internet. once you are in the majors and if you are in the spotlight and everybody loves you you REALLY have to watch out. You have to be careful what you say to the press and you can't always say what you think. As a popular athlete, you LOSE alot of your freedoms because you are setting the example for the public. you are in a powerful position. The public doesn't understand this. You can't talk to a reporter in a bar and not have him print your conversation. It doesn't work that way. Most of them get this. John Rocker didn't realize this and it ruined his career. I'm pretty sure that's what happened to him. I met him and he seemed nice enough. This whole thing is WHY they get paid so much. Because they lose so much freedom. It's a cage, but it's a golden cage lined with money and a few perks and alot of adoring fans. It's alot of responsibility

Answer 8

They play a long season (Spring training to the end of September), but most importantly, they have the strongest union in the universe! Understand though that most of those guys playing in the minors are NOT making lots of money.

Answer 9

It all began with the owners, plus Sports are not subject to anti-trust laws. Just go on strike and don't watch at the stadium or TV. Eventually they'll get the message.

Answer 10

baseball is a sport where if you win, you get a lot of money, and if you sell tikets you get even more $$$$

so managers pay their players for creating an image for the team, and for earning them their money

Yankees are just rich, and waste money on good players, just for the sake of winning