They argued about whether they deserved the same charter flights as their male counterparts and about the definition of what constituted equal pay. People in the military leave their families at home to defend and protect the country knowing they may never return. No Matter The Sport, Women Athletes Are Always Paid Less Should Brady be called the best quarterback in NFL history? 1 overall pick in the '07 draft. When asking people whether they think athletes are paid way too much money, most agree with me. TakeScottie Pippen, who, despite being a vital asset that lifted both Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls, played most of the 1990s under what is consideredone of the worst contractsin NBA history. This supports the notion that some athletes get too caught up with how much they are earning and might begin to lose focus of why they wanted to play in the first place. How much should a teams record of winning or losing major competitions matter? In any other job, if you don't perform to your expectations, you're fired. With a new decade ahead, we are taking a look back at how athlete compensation changed over the past ten years, and the obvious trends of wage equality in sports. Members of the United States womens soccer team at the Tokyo Olympics. Another argument is that women's national teams for sports like soccer have far more success than the men's national team. After all, athletes earn more money than teachers, first responders, and members of the military. To learn more about Adelphi Universitys Online Programs download a brochure, fill out the fields below or call us at 888.252.4110 to talk with one of our enrollment counselors. When fans look at professional athletes salaries, its easy to say they make far too much money for playing a game. Now, the N.C.A.A. As women and girls continue to fight for equal opportunity in the workplace, the fields, arenas and courts have been, and will continue to be, no exception. Therefore, they deserve to earn more. Professional athletes salaries too high. In Praise of Athletes' High I am an editorial consumer intern reporting on sports and b-schools. The gender pay gap in professional sports persists - The Daily Californian "Paying College Athletes Top 3 Pros and Cons." But as recent lawsuits and even Twitter battles show, we still have a ways to go. 7, 2018, Steve Berkowitz, NCAA President Mark Emmert Credited with $2.7 Million in Total Pay for 2018 Calendar Year, usatoday.com, June 2, 2020, USA Today, NCAA Salaries, usatoday.com, Nov. 17, 2020, Ian McMahan, Athletes Are Paying the Physical Price of Playing College Sports, si.com, Oct. 31, 2017, Azmatullah Hussaini and Jules Lipoff, Op-Ed: COVID-19 Is Making the NCAAs Exploitation of Student-Athletes Even More Obvious, latimes.com, June 23, 2020, Meghan Walsh, 'I Trusted 'Em': When NCAA Schools Abandon Their Injured Athletes, theatlantic.com, May 1, 2013, Jon Solomon, The History Behind the Debate over Paying NCAA Athletes, aspeninstitute.org, Apr. Consider that ten of the biggest outdoor sports stadiums in the world (excluding auto racing venues) are American college football stadiums. Why Are Professional Athletes Overpaid - 1387 Words | Cram Should college athletes be paid? Professional sports is a money-earning business. are thriving at the highest levels, all higher percentages than their non-athlete peers. Face Off: Should female athletes make as much as their male Excluding men's star Roger Federer, elite female tennis players compare very well with their male counterparts in terms of endorsement earnings. Both mens and womens basketball used the unusual circumstances to play with online options and enhance the at-home fan experience, and the WNBA saw its highest draft viewership in 16 years during the 2020 virtual draft. But theyre still earning way too much money. Other Division I schools had an almost $23 million collective difference between revenue and expenses. [27], About 25% of Division I athletes reported food poverty in the past year and almost 14% reported being homeless in the past year. All throughout the athletic department, people are making six-figure salaries. Colleges reap billions from these student athletes sacrifices and success but, in the same breath, block them from earning a single dollar. ], ProCon.org, "Paying College Athletes Top 3 Pros and Cons,", ProCon.org, "Paying College Athletes Top 3 Pros and Cons. Compare those wages withthe national average salary fora firefighter: about $45,000 a year. Photo Illustration by Vanessa Irena for Scholastic. Whether professional players receive salaries or individual prize money from competitions, male athletes in basketball, golf, soccer, baseball and tennis make anywhere from 15% to nearly 100% more than female athletes. As of June 10, 2021, 18 states have passed NIL laws; five more states have passed bills that were awaiting the governors signature to become law; 14 states have introduced NIL bills; and one state has a bill passed by the Senate and awaiting a House vote, according to the Business of College Sports. Last modified on March 27, 2023. While both mens and womens soccer players are seeing salary increases alongside the sports rise in popularity, men still far outearn women. But its important to remember that those athletes are an essential part of enormously profitable companies. The Bottom Line: While it seems like theres no way to stop such inflated salaries of professional athletes, the repercussions could cause long-term damage to professional sports. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, the average total cost of public college (tuition, fees, room, and board) for the 201718 academic year was $17,797. Some of it comes from fans who shell out big bucks for costly game tickets and hugely overpriced snacks at stadiums and arenas, and for hoodies and hats with their favorite teams logo. Does it make any sense that someone who throws a football for a living is paid more than 700 times as much as someone who helps save peoples lives, or that swinging a bat gets you nearly 650 times as much as educating kids? That gap is narrowing slightly, however. Such Salaries Contribute to Income Inequality within Sports. FRED BOWEN Washington Post sportswriter and author Tennis has made moves to increase equal pay between their male and female players, and today all four major tennis tournaments offer equal prize money. Professional Athletes Are Overpaid - The Odyssey Online The ruling changed the broadcast regulations for college football. If Alex Rodriguez earns the same amount of money as it would take tofeed the nation's poor for a year, he cant cheat and take steroids. How do you think other governing bodies should address the pay disparities that exist between male and female players in many sports? Finally, what really puzzles me, is how athletes get upset when athletes say that millions of dollars won't be able to support him and his family, and that they need more. The billionaire owners of the N.F.L., M.L.B., andN.B.A. How are professional athletes not overpaid? UNC athletes will be able to earn money for NIL marketing including UNC trademarks and logos in groups of three or more athletes. They give out 13 scholarships. Source: Forbes (men 2010, 2019; women 2010, 2019). If you are interested in equalizing athlete pay, or if you want to push for better compensation for players overall, consider a career in sport management. The most marketable tennis players made four times as much from endorsements and appearance fees as they did from prize money over the last year. But many players say this is not enough. The phenomenal Portuguese Ronaldo or the one-team man Lionel Messi? The players long battle with U.S. Soccer, which is not only their employer but also the sports national governing body, had thrust them to the forefront of a broader fight for equality in womens sports and drawn the support of fellow athletes, celebrities, politicians and presidential candidates. College athletes may also play a second sport professionally and be compensated, such as Clemson quarterback Kyle Parker who earned a $1.4 million baseball signing bonus from the Colorado Rockies in 2010 while still playing football for the Tigers. Which of these groups do you think played a role in pushing U.S. Soccer to equalize pay? Should College Athletes Be Paid? Top 3 Pros and Cons - ProCon.org Others also argue that. Perhaps more notable is U.S. Soccers pledge to equalize pay between the mens and womens national teams in all competitions, including the World Cup, in the teams next collective bargaining agreements. Subscribers receive access to the website and print magazine. This was quite a change from polling conducted in 2017, when 60% believed college scholarships were enough compensation for college athletes.