Sample Essay

Should Sports Stars Be Paid So Much Money?

Sports stars are those athletes and players of games such as basketball who have achieved success and fame due to their performance, and are paid large amounts of money. LeBron James, for example, is paid 48.5 million dollars per year. Christiano Ronaldo earns 200 million dollars annually. The question today is whether sports stars should indeed be paid so much money. In other words, do they deserve to be paid so much?

There is a school of thought that believes that sports stars do deserve to be paid highly. Becoming a professional athlete or a basketball player at the international level is incredibly difficult, and is the result of a combination of hard work, natural talent, support from a lot of people and luck. When we see an athlete sprinting on the track or a player scoring a goal, we think it is effortless and easy, and don’t see the herculean effort behind it.

Sports stars also have great entertainment value. There are millions of people who can get away from their daily grind only by watching their favorite stars pay. In 2017, the championship game between the Golden State Warriors and the Cleveland Cavaliers was watched by a stupendous 20.38 million viewers including both stadium goers as well as television viewers. The 2022 World Cup finals between Argentina and France in Qatar were viewed by 1.5 billion viewers around the world. In fact, sports stars get paid in proportion to the amount of money their fans are willing to pay up to watch them play. It is just the market economy; demand and supply process. When anything is in high demand, its price goes up. Many sports stars have millions of fans across the world. Not only do they pay to watch these stars play, but they buy their merchandise too. A major source of income for sports stars is sponsorship by sports companies and manufacturers of consumer products like energy drinks.

Thirdly, the stardom of a sports star is only for a few years of his/her life. Only at the peak of their youth are they able to perform like they do. Their stardom is very brief. Considering that they are earning this income only a few years in their youth, it makes no sense to grudge them for their high fees.

The high income of sports stars is also a reflection of what our society values. We are willing to pay huge amounts to our sports stars and movie stars to see them perform, but not to our teachers and doctors. This may be seen as a problem with our value system. However, the problem lies with out society, not with our sports stars.

It can also be argued that the really high-earning sports stars in the world are very few. They can be counted on your fingers. There are very few in the league of Christiano Ronaldo, LeBron James, Roger Federer, Tom Brady and Conor McGregor. The fact that they are so few testifies to their excellence. Not every human being can be like them. Their rarity may warrant such high incomes.

Furthermore, the life story of a sports star is often a source of inspiration for the young generations. Sports stars who very often have battled the odds and overcome challenges to achieve success become role models for youngsters who aspire to be like them. Such aspirations provide a healthy outlet for the immense energy that the youth typically possess.

It is often said, rightly, that people who provide essential services such as teachers, doctors, nurses and firefighters are not paid enough or in proportion to the importance of their services to society. The easy answer to this conundrum is that while sports stars help their companies earn billions of dollars, teachers and doctors do not.

In conclusion, sports stars are not paid too much. They are paid in proportion to their star value, which is entertainment value in other words. As long as they perform exceptionally well, and there are people willing to pay any amount of money to watch them perform, they will be paid huge amounts of money. The injustice of essential service providers like teachers and nurses not being paid enough shows a lack of political will on the part of society. That is no reason to think that sports stars should be paid less.