Forbes magazine says that golfer Tiger Woods is on track to become the world's first billionaire athlete by 2010. What do you think of the astronomical sums of money that sports stars are paid?
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27 Comments
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Pukey2
Ludicrous.
Now gimme some of that money.
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sabinuki
I think it's fair cos they're worth whatever the market will pay. Those earning ridiculous sums of money are often ridiculously good at what they do, and entertain the world. And corporate sponsors, where fair chunks of the athletes' money comes from, are not losing out on their investments anyway. Everybody wins except those in the shoe workshops in loser countries, and well they can just blame their leaders past and present for not doing a better job of things. It's the politicians who are paid too much, with way too many perks and smirks.
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motytrah
Given that woods makes his money directly from sponsors and placement in the tournaments I don't see an issue. It's not like he's a star player on a baseball or football team that is extracting as much money as they can (often to the determent of the team as a whole.)
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smartacus
Well, that's the capitalist system we live in. Of course, there are hundreds of professions that contribute more to society than sports stars or celebrities and who get paid very little in comparison.
Anyway, Tiger and company get taxed an awful lot. A lot of them also donate to charities, too. So I don't begrudge them their billions. I just wish it was me.
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timorborder
I think somewhere along the line, society has lost its sense of perspective. Tell me the logic of giving some chap loads of money for hitting a little white ball around the countryside, or hitting a different little white ball over fences (baseball)? What do these people contribute to society in the greater scheme of things? Are their social contributions greater than that of other professions such a medicine, etc? The laws of capitalism would seem to indicate such.
At the same, however, you could argue that through such feats of sporting dexterity, such people are providing entertaiment to the (more physically challenged) masses (at least those people who follow such sports). Then again, even as "entertainers," I believe that these sports people are grossly overpaid. Moreover, I think that many of these people themselves realize the questionable size of their salaries, that is why many of them engage in social responsibility activities that aim to increase the social awareness of certain groups and causes.
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RepublicofTexas
I agree, we live in a free market system so this is just one of the results. However i do agree with:
0
Area66
The more interesting question might be "What would Forbes do to make their money, if there were no overpaid celebs (and other equally nutty aspects of capitalist systems) to write about?"
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Xeno23
They're paid what they're paid. I'm not sure what perspective, retaining it or losing it, has to do with the dynamic. Woods makes most of his money off endorsements; that's only peripherally associated with his athletic prowess. It's not even capitalism; it's consumerism. If you try to apply any rationale to it outside what it is, the self-sustaining consumer machine, it doesn't make any sense. But then, it doesn't really have to.
Now, American baseball or football players, they pull most of their salary down from actual contract negotiations. None of these guys could become billionaires as a consequence of their athletic skills, it's unlikely they could even approach it by endorsements. In a very real way, Woods isn't a good representative example; he's an extreme case example. Very few people attain his rarified level of celebrity value.
Still, A Rod is getting $250 million for the next 12 years, or so; that's pretty astronomical. Is it unreasonable? Sounds like it at first, but like any employee, what is the value of their revenue production? It might be astronomical compared to what you and I make, but how does what you and I make relate to the revenue our employers make off us? Is the ratio similar? If so, it's not astronomical; it's simply business.
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Bovinus
Of course the money is obscene but lots of things are obscene. Advocating a maximum wage or higher taxes on the rich is akin to advocating socialism (and we don't want that, do we?).
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presto345
One word: outrageous.
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umioso
All fine, well and good. However, I believe we ALL have our priorities a bit skewed. The BEST teachers should be rewarded most handsomely, thereby making teaching the most sought after profession. The world would benefit from this.
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presto345
Business. What a convenient term. It justifies all.
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helloklitty
He should have stayed in school.
I don't have to worry about it as long as he stays out of my neighborhood. If he did move across the street, I suppose I'd be jealous if my wife and kids started hanging out with him.
He doesn't seem to be a jerk, though, unlike a lot of the muscleheads.
ESPN just ran a story on this about how 40% ( ? ) of pro athletes declare bankruptcy at some point in their retirements. Shaquille O'Neill's spending habits are now public record because of his divorce. He spends $24,000 plus on gas per month. He must be driving two Hummers simultaneously 23 hours a day. I didn't check his diaper bill (He has about 34 kids), but it must about the same as my salary.
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notimpressed
yeah yeah it is ludicrous. but anything or anyone is only worth as much as someone is willing to pay. whether they are worthy or not is irrelevent, someone is willing to fork out the dough so there it is. None of us would turn it down if someone thought we were worth a multi-million salary or endorsement deal. society is screwed up to pay so much for so little, but thats not the athletes fault. They live in the same society as we do. But noone is willing to pay that much for us or our skills. too bad. Go out and get it yourself some other way. goodluck everyone, I hope you become a gazillionair. Where theres a will theres a way. Wish I could find it soon.
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nightflesh
I believe that Tiger Woods deserves all of his earnings. You guys don't know how much Tiger Woods contributes to society. He holds many children and other programs, events, and activities to keep kids active and keeping them positive in life. He give tons of money to charities and has a few of his own. His endorsements with Nike and others do give him more money but they are also make money from him. Other athletes may not deserve all the money but majority of these players in all sports contribute to society more than you think. The media just eats up all of the negative things athletes do because that's what makes ratings. You can't say anything about Tiger Woods anyways because he doesn't do anything negative. Even his comment on Hockey wasn't that bad. Give Tiger Woods what he diserves and know that he is the best athlete the world has ever seen.
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Farmboy
Everybody tries to get what they can get. Tiger Woods was successful in getting a lot of money for his talents...congratulations are in order. His getting rich doesn't make someone else poor, and will motivate people to try hard to be champions.
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jonobugs
Timborder: well said.
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helloklitty
How do you know what we know?
Tiger Woods is probably a very good athlete, but as a golfer, he doesn't get to show off his running, jumping and throwing. As far as best the world has ever seen? No way. That's like calling Tom Brady the best athlete in football. It's a joke. Tiger Woods has amazing concentration, but he only bench presses about 300 pounds. Are you saying he's a better athlete than someone who benches 500 pounds? If he had chosen any other sport, I doubt he would have achieved the same success due to his relatively average physique.
I know a lot of footbally and baseball players are calling Tiger the best athlete, but they haven't really analyzed it. Stick with best golfer and be satisfied or bring back "The Superstars" from 1970s TV. That's when we discovered pole vaulters are stunningly athletic.
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akaguma
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motytrah
I think a better question isn't about Woods but the companies that pay him. If I were a share holder in a company that was paying out $100M I would really have to question the value proposition THAT much money brings.
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Triple888
I think it's just the sport itself. Golf. Enough said.
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spudman
tiger makes about 20 million a year from nike but nike golf gear sales are about 725 million a year so maybe tiger is underpaid!
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outofmydepth
athletes like tiger woods give back so much to the community. if more athletes were like him.
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Loki520
Gee... I wonder why?
Are you saying that all athletes are measured by how much they can bench?
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MeanRingo
Tiger Woods bench pressing 300 pounds of what? Feathers?
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Ivespoken
I believe that the world's priorities are all skewed! Professional athletes earn so much more then teachers and community leaders that it seems to make NO sense! What society is sending out to kids is that you can be more successful in playing sports or entertaining people than you can with getting a good education. These kids look more towards becoming an entertainer than a great teacher because "entertaining is where the money is" so to speak. Tssk... tssk It's a shame.
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Farmboy
Clearly the athletes do better work...(sigh)
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