Do you think that professional athletes are overpaid for what they do?

For what they do (run around with a ball for a living)? Yes, vastly overpaid. For the amount of revenue they generate? Probably not. If equitable distribution is a concern, I'd rather see ticket prices reduced drastically to bring franchise revenues down than see the players paid more.

It's unfortunate that Western society tends to lavish riches upon its most useless members (while teachers struggle to pay their rent), but such is life.

I think the money would be more deserved by people who save lives and make the world a better place rather than people who entertain and play children's games.

I'm not a sports fan, but I am familiar with this issue. A lot of fans resent the high ticket prices and blame the fact that the players are making millions of dollars. I think that given the free enterprise system, the fact that player's negotiate contracts, and that the career of a professional athlete is much shorter than most other professional careers, it is reasonable. You don't often hear people complain that the high cost of clothing is because fashion models get paid too much.

Yes.

In some sports yes, but not in others. NBA Basketball, yes. Swimming, probably not. Oh, and of course, professional athletes who are men get paid a lot more than women. It's pretty hard to generalise.

i guess they are worth what ever someone is willing to pay them. the fans continue to show up at the stadiums and to the tv programs.

Supply and demand, it is their *right* to demand whatever pay they want... if the spectators dont like it, they can quit buying tickets..

Just like any employee they get paid what the market will bear. It's not up to me to decide if their employer is over paying them.

So long as people are willing to pay the ticket prices and companies willing to pay for sponsorship, I don't think athletes are overpaid for what they do. In fact, there are sometimes cases for them being underpaid compared to what the team "owners" get. There was an analysis a couple of years ago of Michael Jordan's career that estimated he direcctly or indirectly contributed to about $1 billion in income to different people or companies, for him to get a decent chunk of that change of that seems pretty reasonable to me.

The overpayment part for me comes into the relative valuation of different activities, for example the fact that Michael Jordan's one-year salary alone would've covered the expenses of 1000 Rhodes scholars. Though I find it kind of disgusting, the only way to change it is to encourage people to think about their values.

What you get paid is what "the market" thinks you are worth, not what society thinks you are worth. Yes, it would be very nice if nurses, teachers, firefighters and anyone else that makes a difference earned vast fortunes, but thats not possible. They don't generate that amount of income (as opposed to a top sportsman).
I myself fully admit that I'm not the best person in the world at what I do. But even if I was, I doubt that 60,000 people would turn up week-in week-out to watch me do it.

Not exactly. I think they are paid what the market will bear. I do think it's too much but I'm not the market. So I can see it either way. Also it's worth remembering that the average (for example) football player gets his exorbitant salary for only four years before all his tendons are ripped out of his body and he's left to rot in local carpet store commercials for the rest of his life.

There aren't enough exclamation points behind this 'Yes'!

They shouldn't get paid millions upon millions of dollars just because they are good at a game. I'm good at lots of things, where's my check??

Probably.

What about getting paid millions upon millions of dollars because people are willing to pay it to them? That's really why everybody gets paid - because someone is willing to pay them. Convince everybody to stop attending professional sports games and the won't get paid any more!

I do agree that athletes today are overpaid. Although, I do also believe that they are only paid what they are worth. In other words I mean, if you are going to pay 35 dollars for a nose bleed seat, you are just as guilty as the owners are for letting the salaries rise. We are the only ones to blame for these overpaid athletes