Why do people get so upset over players' salaries?

Question

I've never understood this.

The players have a skill that not many people posses, and it is in great demand.

I could understand if they were paid using tax money, or it somehow directly affected your life.

Does A-Rod asking for 30 million affect your day-to-day life? It makes absolutely no difference in my life.

If you were playing, and someone offered you 10 million, would you tell them, "No thanks, I love playing, I'll sign for 50,000."?

Place blame where it belongs - owners paying the salaries, and fans buying tickets/merchandise.

How much do movie and rock stars make per year? Do you get upset that Tom Cruise or Tom Hanks or Julia Roberts make over 20 million for ONE MOVIE?
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I agree with my friends and random morons at the bar about this at least once a week - kinda sad, but whatever.

Someone will say, "The Sox shouldn't pay that guy that much!"

My reply is always the same - "Why not? What do you care how much they spend? It's not your money, why not hope they spend whatever they need to to win?"
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^^^ agree - argue ^^^
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Brandon - that was one of my points - blame the fans for paying that much for tickets and other items at games.
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Answer 1

I'm with you half and half on this Kris.

$10 mil vs 50k is a big difference, but if you were offered $15 mil vs. $12 mil for 8 years, what would you really be able to do with that $15 mil that you couldn't do with $12. It's still WAY more money than they were likely to see without this skill

However, on the fan side, you are absolutely correct. Those fans that don't care about the price of tickets, retail, concessions have no reason to complain.

I send a note every year to the Blue Jays saying although I enjoy following baseball and I like to see the Blue Jays win, I will not help financially support the team while it costs so much to be at the ball park.

Pretzels were $5.08, a Pop was $4.00, a beer was $6.75 for a regular one and $9.50 for a 'tall boy'.

My brother spent $26 on two subs and 2 drinks.

Now, the Jays of course, ignore me, because who cares what one person does.

Like those dumb emails suggesting you boycot certain gas stations. While people are lining up at the non-boycotted gas stations and they are loving this, people would rather pay the extra money and be quick about it rather than aiding in a point.

When I see questions on here about buying ML merchandise, my first (and often only) question is why would you want to do that?

Teams change uniforms so die-hard fans get updated ALL the time.

I also boycott Tom Cruise too.

Answer 2

Good point. Considering the way baseball is set up - a team can pay a player whatever they can afford. To the player's defense - why would anyone say "Nah - that's too much?". I know I would never tell my employer "no, thanks" to more money. It's ridiculous. It's moronic to blame a player for making a boat-load of money. Baseball's like that. The high-paid players obviously proved thier worth... so let it go.

I think what people might get upset about, and justifiably so - is the salary cap issue. smaller markets simply can not afford the better players. to an extent - this might somewhat takes away from the competitive nature of the game, as the talent will follow the dollars... but you can't blame the players for that. it's being offered to them. they're taking it - and so would anyone else. the smaller market teams (i'm a cleveland fan) - will just have to get creative and figure out other ways to hire a smart gm. increase sales and revenue from your fanbase. develop players... and sign them to longer contracts - early. take a risk and reap the benefits. then, later, once the contract expires - probably lose the player to a big market - which is frustrating. it's baseball, though. it's not a reason to despise a player.

Answer 3

I completely agree. Place blame where it belongs: on the owners and fans for supporting these salaries with their tickets and merchandising. That's why I haven't attended a live sporting event (baseball, football, hockey, basketball, whatever) in years.

The players wouldn't accept $15 million if the owners wouldn't offer $15 million. But I cast no stone, if my boss decided to increase my salary 100 fold, I wouldn't say no.

What upsets me is when a player thinks he is actually worth that amount of money and feels personally slighted and deeply disrespected if he is offered a pittance of merely $2 million a year. He holds out or demands to renegotiate his contract or sulks in the clubhouse because he wants his money.

I mean, a man's gotta eat, right?

It's simple supply and demand that determines the market price for those skills and talents. Perhaps the argument should be "Why is the demand for athletic talent so high?"

I think soldiers and firefighters should get paid much more than actors and athletes, because they have a much more direct positive influence on your day-to-day life. At least they have on mine. But society disagrees, so all I can do is assign gratitude to those who earn it, and it's not the ones playing a child's game.

Answer 4

I don't begrudge them their salaries, provided they at least put in an honest effort. Not everyone seems to do this.

However, they are in part paid by tax money. Virtually every stadium is built with mostly tax money. Owners have huge tax breaks in depreciation on players and such. We also pay interest on the funding for stadia--this is on a national level, so fans of an East Coast team are also partly paying for a park on the West Coast.

One last thought--I don't begrudge the money. But I do get annoyed if someone says that an offer of $10 million is some kind of "insult." If that's an insult, I'm open for some abuse!

Answer 5

It's not important as to whether anyone is to blame. However to say that it doesn't effect people is wrong. The ever escalating salaries effect everything from ticket prices at the ball park to the vendors who sell their goods not to mention the merchandising of team products.

The point is a family of four, for example, that may have afforded to attend four games a year, may only be able to attend three. It may not sound like much but people are effected.

I agree with you about movie stars. People just don't look at them in the same way. Odd, but very true.

Answer 6

I dont get upset. I've often said that if Mike Ilitch had the kind of money some other owners had; I would hope that he put it back into the team.
Although some owners do have the money to get players other teams without money would love ot have (or keep).

I blame Scott Boras & Donald Fehr mostly for the demise of the game (with a little bug selig thrown in for good measure).

Answer 7

It doesn't bother me one bit what the players make. If given the chacnce & were blessed with a talent like to be able to play baseball & offered millions of $$$, would that person say no way dude, that's way too much $$, I will play for a lot less. It's the owners who offer the players the $$$.

Answer 8

I, for one, don't begrudge player salaries. They make what they millions because they bring in billions for their owners, and for the leagues they play in.

But I don't know who owns any given baseball team (or football team, or what have you). Asside from a few conspicuously notable owners (Cubans and Steinbrenners and such), baseball owners are a fairly obscure lot. Players, however, are celebrities, and easily recognizable.

So, when you have to shell out $60 for a ticket, and $20 for a beer and hot dog, and $100 for a jersey, you can more easily say "This is to pay Alex Rodriguez's salary." as opposed "This is to pay for the Yankee's owners."

Answer 9

I'm with you on this one. Welcome to capitalism.

I will just add that once salaries got beyond the imagination of middle-class fans, some resentment started to build. In other words, when a player earned $25,000 a year, a fan could relate to it. A player was merely a bum, and not an overpaid bum.

Now, the worst guy in the majors earns around $300,000. It's difficult for someone on an hourly wage to relate to that.

Answer 10

I could NOT agree with you more. A-Rod is a splendid example. What has he done? There was the interference all in the LCS. That's it. Calling 'I got it' was actually pretty clever. He pulled a kid out of the traffic, maybe or maybe not saving his life, but still an upright thing to do. Oh, yeah. And he signed the biggest contract in history.

And he is hated almost as badly as Barry Bonds -- who by the way doesn't play for free. That does NOT compute!

And these wise butts here -- do they tithe? Do they give 1/2 of their wages to charity? Would they tell their bosses,"Oh, thanks for making me an executive. But I want my salary to stay the same, just like I was still working on the line."

Stupid hypocrites.