Superbowl, World Series, NBA Finals. . .

[-Barista-]

Why do athletes in pro sports get paid so much to play a game?

[ledwix]

...because millions of people will go out every year (myself included) to watch and pay upwards of 50 dollars to sit there for three hours and get entertained. It brings in tons of revenue, although they are truly overpaid. (However entertaining it is, running around and catching/hitting/throwing some balls isn't really labor. It's playing a game you love for a living)

[madmatt621]

It's their "little" bonus.

[-Barista-]

That's what I've always thought. And just to be fair and argue from the positive side, I've always said to myself that sports keep a large portion of the population "entertained" and out of any possible trouble they could be getting into.

Same thing goes for celebrities.

[EnR]

Originally Posted by ledwix

Labor

Uhm, try keeping yourself in shape(like really good shape), always going to practices, their bodys go through a lot.

[pntballa18]

Originally Posted by -Barista-

That's what I've always thought. And just to be fair and argue from the positive side, I've always said to myself that sports keep a large portion of the population "entertained" and out of any possible trouble they could be getting into.

Same thing goes for celebrities.

yes, yes, major games keep people out of trouble. if someone's team loses, they accept defeat and go to bed. if they win, they feel no need to celebrate and also go to bed

[Laharl]

The only people that complain about how much sports figures make are the ones that don't enjoy sports.

I spend however much money a year to watch sports and pick up sports memorabilia because it's genuinely fun to watch. So do lots of people. It's no different from movie stars making tons of money because a 27 million people go see their movies on opening weekend, or the vats of money the bigwigs at video game companies have for their products being sold like wildfire.

[ledwix]

Originally Posted by EnR

Uhm, try keeping yourself in shape(like really good shape), always going to practices, their bodys go through a lot.

I've been in really good shape before. And yes, sports are physical labor. But the point is that the kind of labor I am talking about is labor that contributes to the growth and embellishment of society, such as regular low-end jobs that pay little but require tons of work, or scientific research/business/government jobs. There are people making 10 dollars an hour working way harder than some professional athletes are. (some, of course, emphasized)

And I'm not decreasing the glory of sports greats. I'm just saying that when all is said and done, we will look back on sports as greats in history, but not necessarily great contributors to mankind as a whole in the future.

[ImladrianQueen]

As for the Giant's MVP i think it's definitely Eli Manning for the win.

((Lol @ the Will Ferrell Budweiser commercial))

[EnR]

Originally Posted by ledwix

And I'm not decreasing the glory of sports greats. I'm just saying that when all is said and done, we will look back on sports as greats in history, but not necessarily great contributors to mankind as a whole in the future.

yea I understand what you're saying, but tell me this, if you were a basketball/football/hockey player, would you complain about how much you make?

I guess some people are jealous. Not saying everyone, but that does have a huge part in it, people work hard for the hard earned cash, and they don't like how athletes get to do something fun and get paid like 10x more.