Podcast

Growing up, we all had our favorite TV shows and sports teams. Loyalty to sports is why many people take it so seriously. The status of professional athletes' income is being discussed. Abram, a student, believes athletes are overpaid. He thinks their salaries could be lower, and the money could be used for other things like cheaper tickets. The speaker agrees that athletes are overcompensated compared to other professions. Making it to the professional level in sports is very difficult, but only a small percentage of athletes actually make it. The speaker feels that athletes like Aaron Rodgers are earning too much, especially considering that some athletes still get paid even if they're injured. The speaker suggests that the money could be used for free streaming or lower ticket prices. While athletes and sports are important, the speaker doesn't think they need millions of dollars. It's a debate that may not be resolved soon. Growing up, we were surrounded by various amounts of entertainment on the TV. Whether it was your daily Spongebob episode or a game show, everyone had something they liked to watch. Most people grew up watching sports such as football, basketball, baseball, and picked a team they liked and stuck with their fan base, sometimes for lifetimes. It is because of this loyalty to sports that many people take it so seriously. After growing up watching a sport, you want to stay to play it, and many do. Some even get it good enough to get scholarships to play sports in college, while some even take it to the next step, being a professional athlete. While the time and dedication is worth the overall fan base you may develop, is the pay worth being put on such pressure? Welcome back, listeners. My name is Adriana, and today we will be talking about the overall status of professional athlete's income. Hello! Can you tell us your name and what you do? My name is Abram Johnson, and I'm a student here at the University of Iowa. Abram, do you watch any sports? I do. I watch sports all the time. Every kind of sport. Have you played any sports yourself? I have five sports, three varsity sports in high school, baseball, basketball, and soccer. Would you have liked to go pro in any of these sports? If I was good enough, yeah, of course I'd want to go pro. If you went pro, what kind of salary would you have wanted? Well, of course you want to make as much as possible, so, I mean, preferably in the millions, but that's not really realistic. Many professional athletes get paid millions a year just to play their sports. Do you think it should be slightly lower? I think it could definitely be lower, just considering there's a lot of professions out there that do more for society and get paid significantly less. What kind of things could that salary money go to instead? Well, it's really expensive to go watch the games, even watch them online, so if the players were paid a lot less money, it'd be a better and cheaper experience for the fans to maybe be able to enjoy the sports that they love. Thank you, Abram. Of course. I believe professional athletes may be overcompensated for their work and may not need as much money as major leagues really give them. While I agree, sports are pretty entertaining at most points, a million dollar season contract for playing a sport that so many others play just for the sake of entertainment is really not that beneficial. Most doctors make a salary in the three-figure range, and while their job might be more important in the function of society, they're not paid anywhere near a professional football player, who on average can make anything from $300,000 to $680,000 in just one year. The term professional athlete generates from the transition from one level of skill in a sport to another. The amount of time and talent it takes to make a pro is what people often refer to with the salary given. With most sports being worldwide, the amount of competition to make it to a professional level is overwhelming. According to the NCAA, fewer than 2% of NCAA student-athletes actually end up going pro, and this is not including high school athletes who go straight out of graduation. While I agree the time and devotion put towards a sport should be rewarded, I feel as though Aaron Rodgers getting millions of dollars just for playing his dedicated sport may be too much. This is not even considering how some athletes still get paid millions even if they are injured. The general wealth of some athletes is overwhelming, and most athletes get their money from sponsorship deals and advertisements, so adding millions more onto their net worth from their contracts is unnecessary. The league could put the money into something more reasonable, such as funding for free streaming on certain platforms so that fans can access it easier, or less costly ticket prices. Athletes and sports are essential, as they are an extreme part of culture in each society and bring people together, and while I agree the risk of your physical and mental health is due for a generous paycheck, I do not think millions of dollars is necessary. It is a heavy debate, but one that may not be solved for a while, so thank you for listening to today's episode of Podcasters, and have a great winter!