Should Professional Athletes be Paid Millions of Dollars? - Argumentative Essay

Introduction

In the current world, the high salaries that the professional athletes get paid are the primary topic that most people discuss. Every year, their wages keep rising, and this makes the ordinary people get envious about the salaries of these individuals. An average person may not even earn in their lifetime what professional athlete pockets per year. Most individuals view the professional players only as the luxurious people that only use their salaries to purchase designer clothes, latest cars, and liberal spenders. A good number of people argue that the athletes should not be paid the large sums of money that they are getting at the current moment while a few people think that the athletes deserve such payments. The reason for such views is because they believe that people in such careers as teaching, medicine, surgery, and others are underpaid yet a person gets paid a lot just by playing (Bhagat). This may be seen as unfair, but considering the risks that the players are exposed to, one can understand why they are worth such large amounts of money. However, I think that the professional athletes deserve the millions of dollars that they receive. There several factors that people should consider before concluding that the professional athletes do not deserve the vast amounts of money that they get.

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One of the primary reasons as to why the athletes should be paid the ten millions of dollars is because they spend a lot of time while practicing for the games. The professional payers are known to spend their time in several environmental setups like gym, fields, and other places. For example, if a sports season lasts for about seven months, the athletes have to go the tracks each day to practice for the games so they can bring out the best at the time they are playing. They can also practice during the offseason meaning that they may not have time to do anything else. Apart from using most of their time practicing, the athletes have to be away from their families for long as they keep traveling from time to time and they spend their nights in hotels. For that reason, the athletes deserve the high compensations that they get.

Injuries that the athletes are exposed to while they are playing are another factor to be considered when questioning the amount of money that they pocket. The professional athletes are majorly paid to entertain the audience. This entertainment, however, is usually accompanied by a price. The health insurers will not give these people the outright that they require. The insurance companies may also provide them with coverage that may not be helpful when it comes to such costs as surgeries of the knee or the replacement of the hip bone. The operation for the knee replacement can range between $35, 000 to $40, 000 which most of the professional athletes may not afford if they are paid less than they deserve ("Athletes Overpaid"). These athletes can as well suffer from the brain damage which is also too expensive to treat. Since the bodies of the players are exposed to high risks, it means that at some point in time, they may have to incur a lot of money to cover the medical bills. They can also take painkillers when they are hurt in the process of playing. These drugs relieve the pain at the moment but can affect them later in life. Their body parts that get injured may never get fixed, and this is not exciting at all. The high medical costs that the players are likely to incur means that they deserve the top payments.

Another main reason for the high pay is that the athletes carry more responsibility as compared to the regular citizens. These people also have to sacrifice their private lives as the public will know every detail about them. The media and every society keep watching the athletes all the time. The young people are also known to imitate the famous athletes, and for that reason, the professional athletes need to display some perfect characters during performances for the teenagers to emulate. The athletes have to mind how they behave both in public and in the private setups since each of their acts is just exposed to the people in different regions of the world (Figueroa). A significant example is when an athlete is found partying too much, and in such a case, they will be regarded as being irresponsible. Therefore, the players have to display act hypocritically since they have to please the society. They have to trade off their private lives for riches and popularity. These individuals cannot even go for a standard walk without being judged by the public meaning that they are denied from living a usual life like other people. This factor explains why the athletes deserve higher salaries than anyone else.

The short lifespan of the athletics career is another crucial factor that explains why the players have to be paid a lot. Unlike other individuals that retire at the age of between 65 to 75 years, a professional athlete will be in their career for fewer periods (Bhagat). The main reason for the early retirement is because the athletes go through a lot of physical stress that is likely to affect their health currently and in the future ("Athletes Overpaid"). The health problems that one is exposed to mean that they are not going to stay for long in their careers. For that reason, they need a reasonable compensation for both current and future uses.

Conclusion

To conclude, I have given enough reasons as to why the professional athletes deserve a decent pay as they get right now. Apart from the time that they spend away from their loved ones and the high exposure to injuries, there are a lot of other reasons as to why they need to be paid well. People should stop being envious because of the high payments that the athletes receive since such players are exposed to severe risks, unlike the ordinary people. The numbers of fans that attend or watch the games also determine the payments for these people. Since people keep watching and following the games' proceedings, the athletes will continue enjoying the high salaries (Figueroa). Also, the sports and games industry is a business that earns a lot of profits from which the players are paid only a small fraction compared to what the owners get. Hence, I firmly hold to my argument that the professional athletes deserve the high payments that they get.

Works Cited

Are Professional Athletes Overpaid? Tylt. Retrieved from https://thetylt.com/sports/nba-nfl-nhl-mlb-overpaid

Bhagat, M. Do Professional Athletes Get Paid Too Much Money? Retrieved from http://bleacherreport.com/articles/366795-do-athletes-get-paid-too-much-money

Figueroa, A. On the Bench: Overpaid Athletes. The Current. Retrieved from https://nsucurrent.nova.edu/on-the-bench-overpaid-athletes/