Today's professional athletes make astronomical salaries, and they"re only going in one direction. Ever year fans hear about how a professional athlete just signed a contract worth a record "bazillion" dollars. Then, next year, another athlete signs a new contract worth even more than the previous "all-time high." The typical minimum salary for professional sports is over $100,000 a year. These salaries are not at all reflective of the athlete's economical importance. Professional athletes make too much money in a society where salaries are based upon the value of one's work. .
One of the main reasons that these salaries escalate is society. Fans (the public) dishes out $50 for a ticket, $100 for a jacket, and $20 for a hat of their favorite team. The prices and salaries keep going up, because athletes know that the public will pay for it. If society stopped paying these ridiculous prices, and there were no monies coming in, would the prices and/or salaries increase? No. Teams would not be able to keep paying athletes "out of this world" salaries, because there would be insufficient funds being taken in. .
Michael Jordan is a prime example; he too falls into this category of being overpaid. Aside from being called the best athlete ever, he is only a regular human being who is making a ridiculous amount of money compared to his role in society. Jordan makes 33 million dollars a year, not counting the 40 million in endorsements. This breaks down to $170,000 a day (Shepherd). In 1996, Jordan brought home a total of 78.3 million dollars. That season, he also made $160.97 per second of playing time (Burrows). If he were to play 20 minutes a game, he would bring home $193,164 a game. Why should he get paid all this money for playing a simple game? The answer is that he shouldn't. On the other hand, The President of the United Sates only makes a mere $200,000 a year! The President plays a much more vital role in society than some sports player, but still gets the short end of the stick when it comes to income.