Should There be a Salary Cap Put on Sports Players?

PearlOfAGirl

This subject is driving me crazy. I can't stand the fact that most people are losing their homes or their jobs, and are lucky if they are getting enough hours & are not taking a pay decrease or to be able to pay bills and put food on the table. No I guess that's just not enough. :roll:

No of course not, and I'm not saying that this hasn't been going on for years now, but come on. Why are these players and it is mostly in baseball, have to make so much ****ing money. We the adoring fans are getting screwed out right. The ticket prices are through the roof, and that doesn't include parking or public transportation and getting something to eat or drink before, during or after a game. :evil:

I really wanted to make this a poll question, but it doesn't look like there is an option for that unless I missed it. I'm a big lover of baseball & I have been for many years and I have not been to a game since 2004, and if some of this looks familiar it's because I was on the thread about Manny Ramirez, and yes I was a big fan of his.

All I know is that there was a time, and this goes back before we were even born, that players didn't make all this money and they had to work during the off season. These guys are the legends and today's players are trying to chase after their stats. These players weren't making the money today's are and they didn't need to be all juiced up on something to make themselves play better. :roll:

It feels kind of good getting that off my chest phew!!!!!

Thoughts_Arrive

Yes!
Here in Australia we have our own sport called Aussie Rules Football and each of the 16 clubs in the AFL (Australian Football League...which is the premier competition) have a salary cap.
It makes the whole competition so much more even and competitive, any team that makes the finals (top 8 on the ladder) can win the premiership cup.

I would love to see the salary cap system brought into soccer, I am sick of it always being the same teams with the most money battling for the championship.

Kel Varnsen

HeartShapedBox wrote:

This subject is driving me crazy. I can't stand the fact that most people are losing their homes or their jobs, and are lucky if they are getting enough hours & are not taking a pay decrease or to be able to pay bills and put food on the table. No I guess that's just not enough. :roll:

Except why shouldn't the players be able to make as much money as possible? I mean there is a lot of money going around in pro sports and to put it simply what ever doesn't go to the players (who are rich) goes to the owners (who are super rich). The players are the ones who put people in the seats so if they can prove that shouldn't they deserve to be paid for it? I mean actors make a lot of money too, should their be a salary cap for them?

PJGARDEN

Kel Varnsen wrote:

HeartShapedBox wrote:

This subject is driving me crazy. I can't stand the fact that most people are losing their homes or their jobs, and are lucky if they are getting enough hours & are not taking a pay decrease or to be able to pay bills and put food on the table. No I guess that's just not enough. :roll:

Except why shouldn't the players be able to make as much money as possible? I mean there is a lot of money going around in pro sports and to put it simply what ever doesn't go to the players (who are rich) goes to the owners (who are super rich). The players are the ones who put people in the seats so if they can prove that shouldn't they deserve to be paid for it? I mean actors make a lot of money too, should their be a salary cap for them?

You took the words out of my mouth. Putting a salary cap on the players isn't going to decrease ticket prices it just means the owners are going to make that much more. I think the players are overpaid but at least they are doing something other than sitting in a suite to earn their paycheck.

Flagg

I think player salaries are ridiculous too of course, but blame the owners for giving it to them. No one would turn down that kind of money out of the goodness of their heart or concerns about layoffs and the economy. No one put a gun to the Dodgers' heads and said give Manny $45 million. Manny and everyone else on here would take it in a second if offered.

The players are entertainers, same as actors. If you don't like an actor, skip his movie. If you don't like MLB players, go to a minor league game. There are plenty of awesome minor league parks around.

Edit: This is not an attack on HeartShapedBox. I definitely see her point.

SPEEDY MCCREADY

Flagg wrote:

I think player salaries are ridiculous too of course, but blame the owners for giving it to them. No one would turn down that kind of money out of the goodness of their heart or concerns about layoffs and the economy. No one put a gun to the Dodgers' heads and said give Manny $45 million. Manny and everyone else on here would take it in a second if offered.

The players are entertainers, same as actors. If you don't like an actor, skip his movie. If you don't like MLB players, go to a minor league game. There are plenty of awesome minor league parks around.

Edit: This is not an attack on HeartShapedBox. I definitely see her point.

you are correct....

if the players were to have a salary cap....then it would be the owners making all the profit....

thats just the way it is....

but the older i get........ the more i realize just how ridiculous it seems to pay a human being $40million to hit a baseball.

and the older i get...........the more i realize that i dont need to buy tickets to the games to support these athletes...

people will go to the games.....the owners will make their gazillions...the players will make their gazillions....

but i choose not to be a part of it.......

chromiam

The only major sport in the US without a salary cap is.... Baseball.

And if someone offered me a ridiculous amount of money to do my job, I would jump on it in a heartbeat and so would just about every other person here.

Flagg

SPEEDY MCCREADY wrote:

Flagg wrote:

I think player salaries are ridiculous too of course, but blame the owners for giving it to them. No one would turn down that kind of money out of the goodness of their heart or concerns about layoffs and the economy. No one put a gun to the Dodgers' heads and said give Manny $45 million. Manny and everyone else on here would take it in a second if offered.

The players are entertainers, same as actors. If you don't like an actor, skip his movie. If you don't like MLB players, go to a minor league game. There are plenty of awesome minor league parks around.

Edit: This is not an attack on HeartShapedBox. I definitely see her point.

you are correct....

if the players were to have a salary cap....then it would be the owners making all the profit....

thats just the way it is....

but the older i get........ the more i realize just how ridiculous it seems to pay a human being $40million to hit a baseball.

and the older i get...........the more i realize that i dont need to buy tickets to the games to support these athletes...

people will go to the games.....the owners will make their gazillions...the players will make their gazillions....

but i choose not to be a part of it.......

It is ridiculous.

I don't go to nearly as many Rangers games as I used to. When I was in college or just out I would go to 30 games a year. I am lucky if I go to one now.

libragirl

Yes.

The Juggler

sooo, you're a socialist?

well, you fit right in here in america these days!

jamminpearls

Mr steriod alex rodriguez= 10yrs 275million and we really wanted 30 million a yr but settled for 27.5 bet he was pissed to miss out on that extra 15 mill.

Kel Varnsen

PJGARDEN wrote:

Kel Varnsen wrote:

HeartShapedBox wrote:

This subject is driving me crazy. I can't stand the fact that most people are losing their homes or their jobs, and are lucky if they are getting enough hours & are not taking a pay decrease or to be able to pay bills and put food on the table. No I guess that's just not enough. :roll:

Except why shouldn't the players be able to make as much money as possible? I mean there is a lot of money going around in pro sports and to put it simply what ever doesn't go to the players (who are rich) goes to the owners (who are super rich). The players are the ones who put people in the seats so if they can prove that shouldn't they deserve to be paid for it? I mean actors make a lot of money too, should their be a salary cap for them?

You took the words out of my mouth. Putting a salary cap on the players isn't going to decrease ticket prices it just means the owners are going to make that much more. I think the players are overpaid but at least they are doing something other than sitting in a suite to earn their paycheck.

Exactly. Plus in reality these players aren't being paid millions to play a game. They are being paid millions because they sell tickets. If you could get people to pay 50 bucks to watch a guy flip burgers, I would expect the salary of a burger flipper to go up too.

LONGRD

Flagg wrote:

I think player salaries are ridiculous too of course, but blame the owners for giving it to them. No one would turn down that kind of money out of the goodness of their heart or concerns about layoffs and the economy. No one put a gun to the Dodgers' heads and said give Manny $45 million. Manny and everyone else on here would take it in a second if offered.

The players are entertainers, same as actors. If you don't like an actor, skip his movie. If you don't like MLB players, go to a minor league game. There are plenty of awesome minor league parks around.

Edit: This is not an attack on HeartShapedBox. I definitely see her point.

And yet nobody ever complains about crappy actors who make $20+ million per flick. I mean, how many "save the world from alien attacks" movies can Will Smith make in his career? :roll:

But sports and entertainment salaries are ridiculous but can you do...

Wobbie

Here's my two cents:

It is crazy to pay a guy like Manny $25M to hit a freakin' baseball. If you're lucky enough to have a $100K a year job (and are immortal), you'll pull down $25M by the year 2259. But, as some have said, you can't blame Manny.

I'd support a "salary ceiling" if everything could shrink proportionately.....ticket prices, food prices, owner profit, etc. Unfortunately, it will never happen. In the 50s and 60s, baseball players usually made about 5 times what the average Joe made (say, 100K vs. 20K). That was cool....now, it's fucking ridiculous. Kevin Garnett makes a quarter of a million per game. Phil Jackson makes $10M to coach. There is sooooooooo much money in sports that a zero like Bud Selig can pull down $18.5M per year. :x

As long as there are people willing to pay the Yankees', Cubs', Red Sox's, etc. ridiculous ticket prices, nothing will change. Same for pro football and basketball. We love our sports too much (and there is actually some value to them). I was a MLB season ticket holder for 15 years and loved going to games. Like many, I get way too caught up in fucking games. We agonize over "our" teams and the players and owners don't give two shits about us. I would love to quit sports, cold turkey, but my lifelong passion is too ingrained. I will say, though, that crazy salaries mixed with ungrateful behavior may eventually drive me away.

And to go all sociologist on you, I think huge sports contracts are really bad for our society. Too many disadvantaged black kids (and some white, too) only aspire to one thing....the big athlete contract (if not that, then some other endeavor with no tangible benefit to society). When their dream doesn't materialize, there is nothing left to fall back on. Maybe if some other professions paid anything near what athletes make, kids would see other options.

And $20M per movie to Will Farell? Don't even get me fucking started!!!

chromiam

Let me add that ticket and concession revenue is just a drop in the bucket compared to the TV and merchandise revenues that teams recoup every year... That's where teams really get the money to pay astronomical salaries, TV and merchandise revenue.

_Crazy_Mary_

No, there should not be a salary cap. That's ridiculous. A person should be allowed to make as much money as they possibly can w/o the govt. telling them that it's too much. And they should also be allowed to spend it however they see fit. This makes me want to start another thread on how much $$ waiters make.

PJGARDEN

The problem isn't just in sports though it's the whole entertainment industry. What about music? There are several so called "musicians" out there making millions that have little to no talent. These people charging obsecene amounts of money for their concerts if you can get a ticket. If you cut their royalities, the record labels make that much more. People in the entertainment industry in general make way too much money but I really don't see an easy solution.

Wobbie

chromiam wrote:

Let me add that ticket and concession revenue is just a drop in the bucket compared to the TV and merchandise revenues that teams recoup every year... That's where teams really get the money to pay astronomical salaries, TV and merchandise revenue.

Yep....we are headed for a day when everything sports will be "pay per view." The only way it ends is when we consumers say FUCK THAT!!! :roll:

Indian Summer

They don't need a salary cap, they need to follow the lead of the PGA and NASCAR. Pay more when you win more. It's simple.

PearlOfAGirl

LongRd. wrote:

Flagg wrote:

I think player salaries are ridiculous too of course, but blame the owners for giving it to them. No one would turn down that kind of money out of the goodness of their heart or concerns about layoffs and the economy. No one put a gun to the Dodgers' heads and said give Manny $45 million. Manny and everyone else on here would take it in a second if offered.

The players are entertainers, same as actors. If you don't like an actor, skip his movie. If you don't like MLB players, go to a minor league game. There are plenty of awesome minor league parks around.

Edit: This is not an attack on HeartShapedBox. I definitely see her point.

And yet nobody ever complains about crappy actors who make $20+ million per flick. I mean, how many "save the world from alien attacks" movies can Will Smith make in his career? :roll:

But sports and entertainment salaries are ridiculous but can you do...

Don't even get me started on the entertainment business :roll:

The Juggler

HeartShapedBox wrote:

LongRd. wrote:

Flagg wrote:

I think player salaries are ridiculous too of course, but blame the owners for giving it to them. No one would turn down that kind of money out of the goodness of their heart or concerns about layoffs and the economy. No one put a gun to the Dodgers' heads and said give Manny $45 million. Manny and everyone else on here would take it in a second if offered.

The players are entertainers, same as actors. If you don't like an actor, skip his movie. If you don't like MLB players, go to a minor league game. There are plenty of awesome minor league parks around.

Edit: This is not an attack on HeartShapedBox. I definitely see her point.

And yet nobody ever complains about crappy actors who make $20+ million per flick. I mean, how many "save the world from alien attacks" movies can Will Smith make in his career? :roll:

But sports and entertainment salaries are ridiculous but can you do...

Don't even get me started on the entertainment business :roll:

you wanna cap them too, karl marx?

Cosmo

Let them make what the market will pay.
I don't blame them... I don't blame the owners. They are in it for the money.
...
Personally... I don't care because I have lost interest in Professional sports a while ago because it seems as if they players have lost the love of the game and have fallen in love with the money and themselves.
Oh... I'll still watch the NBA Playoffs, The World Series and the Super Bowl on T.V... but, I'm not going to many games these days.

smithnic

I don't understand this rant at all. If you buy tickets, a jersey, a hat or watch a game on TV, you are contributing. Who else should get all that money that you and I spend? Owners? Manny Ramirez is probably the best right handed hitter of our generation. Why the hell shouldn't he be paid?

The interesting thing now is how these teams and ultimately the leagues themselves, are essentially broke. 20 of the 30 NBA teams requested a loan. I think we'll see some effects of the bad economy on baseball this year for sure. I've also heard that as many as 15 NHL teams could be gone. This era had to end sometime, it just seems really serious when the crisis hits something like sports though.