The past year of 2024 has been a massive year for sports.
One of the many iconic sports events of 2024 was the highly anticipated boxing match between Jake Paul and “Iron” Mike Tyson. Despite the controversial aftermath of that match, the payout between the two fighters was estimated to be around $40 million, with Mike Tyson receiving $20 million.
With such a massive payout for such a controversial, borderline scandalous fight, the question arises: Do athletes get paid too much?
Such a question has been a hot topic amongst many sports fans.
An athlete’s salary revolves around various factors, such as the athletic importance of their role in the game, personal popularity and how widespread the broadcasting deal is. While ethically debated for years, it’s been noted that the overall importance of the role played in a sport could dictate how much an athlete is paid.
For example, a quarterback would typically earn much more than his other team members, or at least more so than an average no-name punter.
Personal popularity is another huge payout indicator. A more name-recognized player is more likely to have more personal fans, sponsorships and merchandise created about them.
Tom Brady is one of the most recognized football players of all time and is most likely paid more than compared to a local college football player.
The broadcasting deal is also crucial for why athletes are paid so much. By that, I mean how popular the sports association is.
When researched, players in the National Football League (NFL) atypically make more than those inthe National Hockey League (NHL), because the NFL is more prevalent in general. Because of this, the NFL has far more viewers and merchandise sales than the NHL typically does.
Viewership and merchandise sales are direct contributors to an athlete’s paycheck. Because of these varying factors, athletes can be paid a lot of money for their efforts.
I do not believe that professional athletes are overpaid. Athletes are highly trained individuals who sacrifice basic comforts for physical perfection. They spend countless hours perfecting their strategies to guarantee wins for themselves and/or their team members.
As much as some people don’t want to admit it, that kind of lifelong dedication and effort is much more worthy of a high paycheck than a small job like washing dishes at a local chain restaurant.
Even the mentioned athletes, such as Tom Brady or Mike Tyson, didn’t just become household names because their names were memorable. Both athletes got where they are today after countless, reliable victories, in addition to the superficial reasons people associate with how athletes earn a paycheck.
That being said, I will say that Jake Paul is undeserving of his payout and was only paid so highly for being a notorious influencer first and an athlete second. However, that’s a special case. In short, professional athletes deserve their high-paying incomes because of their effort and dedication to sports.
