What happened to playing for the love of the game? In all honesty, I would have no problems playing the sport I love for the minimum salary wage. It was supposed to be about the sports, not about the money.
As other people have mentioned, Joe Smith is a good example of trying something under the table. It carries a very stiff fine and can hold down a team for years. The end result depends on an arbitrator, and I doubt any player would try something like that unless the benefits were just too good. I'm sure agents shy away from it also, as they get paid based on how much their player makes. Just too much can go wrong...
Players actually have a kind of salary cap, but there are a lot of rules for it. The only time it really takes effect is during a FA signing, which is why sign-and-trades are viable. And any NBA player gets paid as he does because of his skill. Think about the weeding out process that these players go through... Only a few players from any high school team will play in college, and only a few college players will make the NBA. These are the best players in the country, not anyone can do what they do. And if an owner decides he wants to pay someone X million dollars, its his money and he can do what he wants because he actually profits from it. Tickets, concessions, merchandise, television, endorsements... The bigger the name the more money they will make an owner.
Players actually have a kind of salary cap, but there are a lot of rules for it. The only time it really takes effect is during a FA signing, which is why sign-and-trades are viable. And any NBA player gets paid as he does because of his skill. Think about the weeding out process that these players go through... Only a few players from any high school team will play in college, and only a few college players will make the NBA. These are the best players in the country, not anyone can do what they do. And if an owner decides he wants to pay someone X million dollars, its his money and he can do what he wants because he actually profits from it. Tickets, concessions, merchandise, television, endorsements... The bigger the name the more money they will make an owner.
I think its true that a lot of players don't love the game, but are you telling me that if someone offered you millions of dollars to play, you would turn him down? You would give up your summers, 7-8 months every year of a good portion of your life, force yourself to stay in a determined weight and maybe sustain a crippling injury, for minimum wage? True, a lot of players (Jayson Williams, Shawn Kemp, "Big Country") don't deserve their salaries, but thats true in a lot of places. We always hear about the boss who "does nothing" but earns so much more than the person complaining, and I'm sure we all have felt that way about our bosses, but truth is they got to their position somehow and we are all a bit envious.
I don't think it was ever supposed to be about sports, except at lower levels. Just about everything in the world boils down to money.
In all honesty, yeah I would. I can live very comfortably off 100k-200k a year. To me it's being paid to play the sprt you love. Naive probably. But I would just be happy to be playing. Injuries are a part of sports. You deal with it. I'm single, I would play for 7 or 8 months of the year no questions asked. Nothing to tie me down. Only the sport that I want to play.
it's all about supply and demand.
there are only so many good players that can play and provide entertainment.
if there are like 100 teams, i doubt the salaries will be as high as they are.
also, no all players deserve what they are getting paid.
sure, they play well, but what matters most is whether or not they can bring the trophy back home.
there are only so many good players that can play and provide entertainment.
if there are like 100 teams, i doubt the salaries will be as high as they are.
also, no all players deserve what they are getting paid.
sure, they play well, but what matters most is whether or not they can bring the trophy back home.
Hehe, you'll forgive me if I don't believe that you, or anyone, would turn down millions of dollars. And I thought you said minimum wage... But I guess you meant minimum NBA salary, which starts at about 500k for the lowest of the low.
Injuries are a huge part of sports, and life. What if you got injured your first season and could never,ever play the game that you loved again... Doesn't sound so good, right? Yes, you might be single now, but a lot of people aren't, and they sacrifice raising their child, being with their loved ones, etc. for the game. At least 7-8 months a year is a long time to be living under someone elses orders.
But, if you really love the game that much, play on. Don't go pro though
, I think the competition might sap the fun out of playing...
spanky
Lifer
- Jun 19, 2001
- 25,716
- 4
- 81
in reference to ur original post... didn't minnesota do that with joe smith? from what i thought i understood... they signed him to a cheap contract and gave him money off the books. or something. someone wanna chime in before i make a total ass out of myself?
To end all the madness of salary caps and the millions going from hand to hand and not yours,
lets all boycott Pro sprots altogether no demand no need for M. Jordan, J. Gordon, B. Farve, D. Jetter, etc...
With all the $$$ not going to pro players it will go to the Govt so they order some of those so called Microsoft Ilo's.
BTW Go STEELERS
lets all boycott Pro sprots altogether no demand no need for M. Jordan, J. Gordon, B. Farve, D. Jetter, etc...
With all the $$$ not going to pro players it will go to the Govt so they order some of those so called Microsoft Ilo's.
BTW Go STEELERS
sandorski
No Lifer
- Oct 10, 1999
- 70,853
- 6,392
- 126
Salaries are an issue in all NA Pro sports. I'm not a fan of Basketball(NBA), so I don't know what's going on there, but I do know that this issue gets discussed in the NHL.
This really is a complicated issue. Do athletes(pro) get paid too much? Do they deserve it? I dunno, but the market seems to be able to bear the cost, that should say something. Since the public seems willing and able to support such high costs, it would seem to me that Salary Caps would most likely just make the Team Owners richer. It really wasn't long ago that Pro Athletes barely scraped by and if they became permanently injured they were royally screwed.
Personally, I'd rather see Athletes who risk their health get paid well then have owners(though they deserve a decent return on their investment)get rich on the backs of others.
This really is a complicated issue. Do athletes(pro) get paid too much? Do they deserve it? I dunno, but the market seems to be able to bear the cost, that should say something. Since the public seems willing and able to support such high costs, it would seem to me that Salary Caps would most likely just make the Team Owners richer. It really wasn't long ago that Pro Athletes barely scraped by and if they became permanently injured they were royally screwed.
Personally, I'd rather see Athletes who risk their health get paid well then have owners(though they deserve a decent return on their investment)get rich on the backs of others.
I think that they should pay them as much as they see fit. If it jacks the cost up high enough where fans can't afford tickets, they will lose business and the system will colapse. Either way I could care less since I don't really like watching pro sports. What gets me is when they use tax money for new stadiums when they aldeady have a perfectly good one.
Those who feel they should implement a "cap" on the individual salary... Or that the athletes don't "deserve" to be paid that much...
I presume you feel the same way about actors, directors, muscians, game programmers, corporate executives, entrepeneurs, website owners, etc?
Ask yourselves why athletes always get singled out in discussions like this.
I presume you feel the same way about actors, directors, muscians, game programmers, corporate executives, entrepeneurs, website owners, etc?
Ask yourselves why athletes always get singled out in discussions like this.
salary caps wont work...mainly because of advertisements. They are, and always will be, a valuable and profitable product for the media, and the advertisers will always pay as much as they need to as long as the return is greater.
notice that all the sports (domestically) that dont attract high TV ratings all pay their players crap. WNBA, soccer, AFL...its because there aren't billions being made and handed over to league and owners. To artificially cap the salary would not work. Even if you came from the ghetto and got the top pay of (theoretical, as posted, 300,000), would you not feel slighted if 97% of those billions of dollars went to the pockets of people who are doing nothing much but solely profiteering off your talent?
The suggestion has been to give it to charity. I guess golf works somewhat that way with dozens of millions of dollars being given each year, but golf is in a whole 'nother realm than a game like NFL or NBA.
notice that all the sports (domestically) that dont attract high TV ratings all pay their players crap. WNBA, soccer, AFL...its because there aren't billions being made and handed over to league and owners. To artificially cap the salary would not work. Even if you came from the ghetto and got the top pay of (theoretical, as posted, 300,000), would you not feel slighted if 97% of those billions of dollars went to the pockets of people who are doing nothing much but solely profiteering off your talent?
The suggestion has been to give it to charity. I guess golf works somewhat that way with dozens of millions of dollars being given each year, but golf is in a whole 'nother realm than a game like NFL or NBA.
OK now that I am home from work I can answer the original question
The cost to do an "unwritten" or "off the books" deal is far to Great. The NBA does a very good job keeping it's tabs on player contracts.
As for all the bashing of what players make, I am really surprised at what some of you are complaining about, I for one watch sports on a regular basis. I pay over $100 bucks a year so I can watch my chargers lose on sunday and have for the last two years. These players are the best at what they do and there is a huge demand for what they do. People like me are willing to devote their time and money to enjoy a sporting event. Because many people like me watch sports advertisers who want to be seen tend to gravitate towards sproting events and because there are many companies that wish to advertise they tend to pay quite a bit to ensure their product or service gets seen. This amount is driven by the fact there are more people who wish to advertise than there are spots available. This is simple supply/demand economics that most of us have learned in school. THis creates a huge pool of money that needs to be dispirsed. Now a winning team is more likely to see more revenue than a crappy team so there becomes a demand for players who can make my team better. The player who is great now can demand a larger salary because he can help achieve higher revenue or perhaps just prestige for the owner.
Now I WAS one of the best techs to work on the 2F158 flight trainer. I made 10.55 an hour. The problem was there was not a huge demand for 2F158 flight trainer techs and also the job could be done by someone else with some training.so once I reached a level of expertise the employer knew that they could train someone else to do the job and there were quite a few people who would gladly take that job.(there were something like 50 aplicants when I got hired) There was no need for them to pay me more money. BUT there are very few people who can do the job of Tim Duncan. If he leaves San Antonio they can mearly find someone else to take his place and train him to be the MVP. This is a natural talent that many people do not posess. How many people here think they are OVERPAID? How many would turn down a raise? not many I am sure but yet you criticize someone for using their skill set to maximize their earning potential. don't you do the same in your current job? I know I do. I currently am employed repairing and calibrating medical equiptment. I took a job because they were willing to pay me more than I made fixing Flight sims for the navy. Then after a few years I was able to move to MN and get a raise because my new employer was looking for my skill set and it is very hard to find. I look to maximize my income and grow professionally so I can get the things I want and afford a nice life for my family this is how the world works. I don't consern myself with what others make in feilds I am not qualified to enter because it isn't relevent.
A few years back there was a boom for anyone who knew how to work on computers. There were few candidates that had the training and many jobs that needed to be filled. There was also a huge pile of money waitunbg to fund these jobs. After time a few things happened.
1. more people got the skill sets needed to work in the IT sector through schoool or training.
2. Comapnies folded and lost money.
The cycle rolled back oin those in the IT secotr because not only were there more candidates now there were fewer jobs for all of them. The same thing happened in the electronics feild about 15 years ago. when this happened companies relized that they could hire cheaper people and the job still got done and they had more people to choose from. wages fell.
So in order for athlete's salerys to drop we need one of thoose things to happen. Either teams to fold or there to be and influx of new players who can play as well and deliver the people in the seats, in the stadium or on the couch.
The cost to do an "unwritten" or "off the books" deal is far to Great. The NBA does a very good job keeping it's tabs on player contracts.
As for all the bashing of what players make, I am really surprised at what some of you are complaining about, I for one watch sports on a regular basis. I pay over $100 bucks a year so I can watch my chargers lose on sunday and have for the last two years. These players are the best at what they do and there is a huge demand for what they do. People like me are willing to devote their time and money to enjoy a sporting event. Because many people like me watch sports advertisers who want to be seen tend to gravitate towards sproting events and because there are many companies that wish to advertise they tend to pay quite a bit to ensure their product or service gets seen. This amount is driven by the fact there are more people who wish to advertise than there are spots available. This is simple supply/demand economics that most of us have learned in school. THis creates a huge pool of money that needs to be dispirsed. Now a winning team is more likely to see more revenue than a crappy team so there becomes a demand for players who can make my team better. The player who is great now can demand a larger salary because he can help achieve higher revenue or perhaps just prestige for the owner.
Now I WAS one of the best techs to work on the 2F158 flight trainer. I made 10.55 an hour. The problem was there was not a huge demand for 2F158 flight trainer techs and also the job could be done by someone else with some training.so once I reached a level of expertise the employer knew that they could train someone else to do the job and there were quite a few people who would gladly take that job.(there were something like 50 aplicants when I got hired) There was no need for them to pay me more money. BUT there are very few people who can do the job of Tim Duncan. If he leaves San Antonio they can mearly find someone else to take his place and train him to be the MVP. This is a natural talent that many people do not posess. How many people here think they are OVERPAID? How many would turn down a raise? not many I am sure but yet you criticize someone for using their skill set to maximize their earning potential. don't you do the same in your current job? I know I do. I currently am employed repairing and calibrating medical equiptment. I took a job because they were willing to pay me more than I made fixing Flight sims for the navy. Then after a few years I was able to move to MN and get a raise because my new employer was looking for my skill set and it is very hard to find. I look to maximize my income and grow professionally so I can get the things I want and afford a nice life for my family this is how the world works. I don't consern myself with what others make in feilds I am not qualified to enter because it isn't relevent.
A few years back there was a boom for anyone who knew how to work on computers. There were few candidates that had the training and many jobs that needed to be filled. There was also a huge pile of money waitunbg to fund these jobs. After time a few things happened.
1. more people got the skill sets needed to work in the IT sector through schoool or training.
2. Comapnies folded and lost money.
The cycle rolled back oin those in the IT secotr because not only were there more candidates now there were fewer jobs for all of them. The same thing happened in the electronics feild about 15 years ago. when this happened companies relized that they could hire cheaper people and the job still got done and they had more people to choose from. wages fell.
So in order for athlete's salerys to drop we need one of thoose things to happen. Either teams to fold or there to be and influx of new players who can play as well and deliver the people in the seats, in the stadium or on the couch.
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