Athlete's Salaries

Athletes' Salaries Professional sports in America have always been a popular subject among the public. The sports industry has prospered so much from the country's 270 million consumers that it is now one of the leading billion dollar industries in the world. Even though professional sporting events bring one of the largest fan bases in the world, a growing majority of fans are becoming more and more disenchanted with the high-priced industry due to escalating salaries. Many fans are tired of paying the high prices for tickets because of the athlete's salaries; however, understanding the evolution of the current salaries for professional athletes may lead to understanding current effects and efforts to prevent further escalation. Salaries are business contracts between the owner and player, a relationship between employer and employee-not the domain of social policy (Eskin n. pag.). However, that does not mean that the consumer's money is not a factor. The sports industry acquires a lot of it's money from what the public willingly pays for tickets and products. Professional sports teams have the money to dish out and create all the substantial salaries due to all of its sources of income. Sports have a truly unique ability, they bring people of all races, gender, and social classes together forming one common bond, the well-being of the home team, no matter what sport is being played. One of the most amazing statistics about athlete's salaries is that the wealth is not just focused on one sport. In almost every sport in America there is an athlete as
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equally rich as one in another sport. In 2005, the top salary for a professional baseball player was $26 million, the top salary for a professional basketball player was $27.7 million, and the top salary for a professional football player was $35 million (USA Today n. pag.). It is a little bit harder to become one of the elite filthy rich in sports such as golf, boxing, tennis, etc. because you have