[PJB]

Okay folks...Something to think about. We are in the midst of a global recession, people are loosing their homes, jobs are being lost at record levels, yet in all this crap, athletes....yes athletes. (Baseball players, football players, et al) are signing multi-million dollar contracts.

I think that doctors and nurses and police and firefighters should be doing that rather than someone who hits a ball or whatever.

[roger-roger]

Then stop watching sports, once people stop paying to see the games, or buying the clothes the salaries will go down.

[QBall]

How is this funny? Doctors, nurses, police and firefighters are paid by public funds. Athletes are paid by private corporations. What's it to you what a private corporation pays it's employees?

[SigPig]

It all comes down to supply and demand. There is a demand for professional sports on a lot of levels. This demand has shown a trend of increasing during periods of economic downturns because people look for things to take their minds off things. Same goes for the movie and entertainment industry. Furthermore, there are very few who possess the talent to play at this level which creates a high demand for a small supply of athletes. Factor in the added revenue from ads and merchandise and you have a multi-million dollar business. It only follows that the athletes (the ones that are the centre of this whole industry), are able to demand high salaries.

Don't like it? Don't participate.

[bootlegga]

Comparing civil servants to private sector employees is your first mistake. Private corporations have the ability (and the desire) to pay more for talented people. Ever wonder why the President of the US makes $250,000 a year while the CEO of GM (or any other large multi-national) makes several million? Or how an accountant will earn $60,000 a year working for the city/provincial government, but earn up to 50% more working for a private firm?

Your second is comparing the top 50 (pick your field) with the rank and file the same field. I'd be willing to bet that the top 50 surgeons in the world make comparable salaries to elite athletes or actors/actresses.

An average policeman still makes more than the average hockey player (who usually pays for the privilege of playing beer league hockey). Even if you were to compare them to guys in the minors (who are probably in the top 10% of their profession), many of those guys only make $50,000-100,000 a year, and their career is much shorter than the average teacher/policeman/firefighter.

Some average sports careers like in football are measured in years, rather than decades like some professions (like dentists or doctors or even some teachers).

http://moneycentral.msn.com/content/Ret ... 100986.asp

The average length of the career of an NHL defenceman is a little longer at about 6 years (see very bottom of article);

http://www.sentex.net/~ajy/hockey/longcareer.html

Don't get me wrong, I'm not defending paying athletes and actors millions of dollars, but unless you're willing to vastly increase the amount of taxes you make (as well as stop watching sports/movies), firefighters/teachers/police officers will never earn equivalent salaries, even though I feel they deserve far better pay for the jobs they do.

[Choban]

I always thought athletes are ovrpaid, not to the point that I would stop watching hockey though. I do also agree that public servants like Firefighters and Police are way underpaid, unfortunately that's reality.