persuasive essay rough

Evan Mora

1/10/11

persuasive essay

          “Wouldn't it be great to make at least a million dollars a year simply to play a game?” (http://bleacherreport.com/articles/366795-do-athletes-get-paid-too-much-money) We are all good at some sport right? So, why don’t we get paid millions of dollars to do what we love? Sports players all across the nation are getting paid in a year more than the average American makes in a lifetime. One solution to this problem could be to persuade team commissioners to take more control over the salary cap of sports players. We could also boycott the teams and not buy any tickets so the players can’t get paid as much. Do superstars who were gifted with the ability to play a sport deserve all of this money?

“In 2008, it was reported that Alexander Ovechkin signed the National Hockey League’s first nine-figure deal in January 2008. Ovechkin got himself a 13-year, 124 million dollar contract to play for the Washington Capitals. Sure he leads the NHL, as of this season, with 112 points, 65 goals, 22 power-play goals, 11 game-winning goals and 441 shots, according to his stats on Washington’s Web site, but what is a 21-year-old going to do with $124 million?” (http://issuesinsportsii.blogspot.com/2008/04/sport-salaries-are-they-too-much.html) Many sports players across the nation are making unrealistic amounts of money and spending it on unreasonable items. Overpaying our sports athletes is a major conflict among our nation. What could a young kid do with all of that money? If we didn’t pay our sports athletes so much, the government could be using that money to help revive our economy. With our economy going down the drain, we are paying millions of dollars to young gifted athletes to play a game that they like doing. There are people in the world who are doing many more important things for our country for much less pay. “We all remember the performances of Michael Jordan, Larry Bird, Joe Montana, and many other top professional sports figures. But do we remember the names of the rescue workers that retrieved Baby Jessica from the well? And then we have firefighters and police officers who risk their lives every day for our safety. Military personnel who make the ultimate sacrifice to protect our freedoms, where is their hall of fame? Who remembers their performances?” (http://www.helium.com/debates/125438-are-professional-athletes-overpaid/side_by_side?page=4) This problem exists among us because if you were to walk into the average home, the television would probably be on a sports channel. If more people watch sports and go to the games, the more the players are going to get paid.

With this situation lingering among our nation, we could solve this problem by having the commissioners of all sports come together and put a low salary cap on all of the players’ salaries. “Salaries are based mostly on the talent and skill levels of these athletes.” (http://issuesinsportsii.blogspot.com/2008/04/sport-salaries-are-they-too-much.html) Having the commissioners lower the salary cap for players would make it so that players would get paid on their performance in the games. If players get a flat pay for just being on the team for a certain amount of years, they don’t have to try hard for either their salary or their performance; they may just show up and “hang around”. Making it so that players get paid for doing good in the games, it ensures for better plays and more interesting matchups. As an example, being a commission sales person, you can only get paid if you sell your product. Why can’t sports be the same? Only get paid well if you do good in that particular game, or that week. “If someone offered me six million a year to do my job, I sure wouldn't turn them down. Those who think that athletes make too much money shouldn't be blaming the athletes, they should be blaming themselves. It is the revenue collected from us that pays their salary. We buy sports memorabilia, we pay outrageous prices for tickets to watch them play and we support the sponsors that pay them to endorse their products. We are to blame for the lopsided compensation that exists.”

(http://www.helium.com/debates/125438-are-professional-athletes-overpaid/side_by_side?page=4) Some people might argue that if YOU were a professional athlete, you would want to be paid millions of dollars to play a game. However, I say that do you really NEED millions of dollars? You should be caring more about supporting your fans and putting on a good show for them than making millions of dollars a year. 

Another way to solve this issue is to boycott sports teams. “I can shoot a basketball, so do I deserve $25 million dollars? People do so much more for our society and get paid so much less.” (http://reallythink.blogspot.com/2004/04/are-athletes-paid-too-much.html) If somehow there could be an advertised, set date where nobody buys a ticket to any sporting event, all of the sports teams would be out of luck that day on sales. This event would cause a major loss in profit for all of the sports teams across the country. In hopes of finding the attention of the owners of teams, the loss of millions could hopefully end up dropping the prices of tickets and product. You shouldn’t be paying your players so much if the average family can’t even afford to attend the game that day. “The question that we should really be asking is how do athletes affect our lives? Is it worth the amount of money we spend to support them? Would our personal lives be much different without them? What can we least afford to be without? Police officers, soldiers, teachers, social workers or athletes, which would we miss the most?”

(http://www.helium.com/debates/125438-are-professional-athletes-overpaid/side_by_side?page=4) Others may think that it would be impossible to organize a day like this to get an outcome this great. I argue back that why not attempt it in hopes to get a good result. If you try and fail, can’t you try again? Making this day happen could be a turning point in athletes’ salaries forever.

          Overpaying sports athletes has been a big debate in the United States for some time. If we could figure out how to put on a nationwide event where no one buys a ticket for any sport’s game, owners of teams would lose millions of dollars in a day. If they lose all of that money, they won’t be able to afford to pay their players with such high salaries. In an event like this, owners should realize that there is a problem with their team. With this big of a loss, they would have to start lowering their prices on product, and stop paying their athletes so much. A cry for action/help.