What motivates today's star athletes? There are many answers to this question, each probably as unique as the individuals themselves. From money and championships to attention or exercise, there are many different explanations as to why today's big name players compete. Many factors contribute to the reasons why they play their respective sports, and as to what drives them to do so, so we will look at four concentrated factors: Money, Championships, Competition, and Fame.
Money motivates everybody, not just star athletes. But the idea that one can excel in a particular sport and have their sole motivation be money to me is ludicrous. I would make the case that most star athletes who have run themselves into the ground chasing money did not become great, simply because they were focused on something other than the game itself (Feinstein 277). What that is saying in essence, is that Tiger Woods" focus is concentrated solely on his Buick endorsements and how much he cashed in this month, then he will invariably have his mind elsewhere during the tournament and probably miss the cut. It goes a step further to assume that if one is motivated by getting money and endorsement deals, then he or she lacks the mental discipline to play a complex sport, let alone excel at it.
In 1997, CEO of New Balance sneakers Jim Davis announced he would award one million dollars to any U.S. man or woman who betters the American marathon record in that year (Allison). This was geared, aside from the obvious advertising benefit, to motivate American runners to be better than the dominating Kenyans. Davis hoped that the offer of money would motivate a few men or women to train harder to become better so that they can rise up a level in distance running.
However, you do find that in the realm of pro sports, there are those who work their way up the ladder to become the best at what they do, then the money factor kicks in and that is what motivates them more than anything.
