Stop saying athletes make too much money

The NBA and the NHL are going through the free agency period right now which means huge deals are being delivered to athletes whose contracts have expired or will expire within the next year.

As the salary cap increases in each sport, the contracts get bigger and seemingly every year, a new athlete breaks the record for the biggest contract in the history of their respective league. While these contracts bring in an enormous amount of money, they also bring in an enormous amount of complaints from people who dislike the fact that athletes make so much money.

I mean just look at Twitter or any kind of social media. When Carey Price was given an 8 year $84 million contract extension from the Montreal Canadiens, people were outraged that one person could be making $10.5 million a year to play hockey. Just a few days later Edmonton Oilers superstar Connor McDavid was given an 8 year, $100 million contract, one of the richest in league history. This too, was met with the same angry comments that Price got.

One of the points made in these criticisms is that the money could go to something more useful like charities or communities. People will even say that athletes aren’t important and doctors should be making more money. Fair point, doctors save lives while athletes entertain. But to make these comparisons is to also let people know that you have no idea how economics or value works.

For instance, actors and actresses can make upwards of $20 million per film. This is because the movie they are making will make hundreds of millions of dollars. The more money coming in, the more money you’ll make. It’s the exact same principle with athletes.

The sports industry makes billions of dollars. Just look at the revenue streams in all of the major North American sports leagues. Ticket sales, broadcasting deals, merchandise, concession stands, they all bring in an exorbitant amount of revenue. Simple economics dictates that when an industry makes a lot of profit, that profit will be fed back into the pockets of those who participate in that industry on a hierarchal basis. It’s always been like that and it always will be.

So when athletes get paid these huge contracts, it is acknowledgement for their place within the industry. Imagine yourself at work. You work for a company that makes money and each position within that company gets paid different amounts of money based on importance. The people at the top make more than those on the bottom. If you’ve worked for a company, you would surely understand this concept.

This concept is the exact reason why elite caliber players like Kevin Durant make upwards of $25 to $30 million a year. Not to mention, if this money wasn’t given back to the players, it would go back into the pockets of the rich billionaires who own the teams.

It’s also important to point out that in many cases, these athletes give the money back to causes that are important to them. In recent history, former Canadiens defenseman P.K Subban pledged $10 million to the Montreal Children’s Hospital, a pledge he stayed committed to even after being traded to Nashville. While this isn’t the case with everybody, these charitable donations truly show that the money isn’t wasted like some detractors want to believe.

My last gripe with these criticisms is that people fail to realize the struggle these athletes have been through. No matter what the sport, athletes constantly reflect on their childhood and describe the hardships they went through.

Many athletes came from absolutely nothing. One parent households, impoverished neighborhoods. Some had parents who worked 2–3 jobs just to support their passions and dreams. These athletes work so hard to get to where they are. They go through minor leagues, college, and then have to beat the odds to make it to the pros.

Professional sports and the salaries that come with it give people who used to have nothing, the opportunity to get themselves and their family out of poverty. Now sure, this isn’t the case for everybody, but it shows that the money that goes to these athletes is helping people. It’s not just some greedy cash grab like some people think it is.

So now we’re at the end of this piece and you’re probably thinking that this was more of a rant than anything else and you’re 100 per cent right. The world would be a much better place if people put some thought into what they post on social media before hitting send.