Shutterstock.com (money); Scott Winters/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images (Patrick Mahomes); Debate photos courtesy of families

Are Pro Athletes Paid Too Much?

September 7, 2020

In the National Football League (NFL), scoring touchdowns can be worth a lot more than six points. In July, the Kansas City Chiefs signed quarterback Patrick Mahomes to a contract that could pay him $503 million over 10 years. It’s the largest contract ever in U.S. professional sports.

Players in other sports are getting paid big money too. For example, more than 100 players in the National Basketball Association (NBA) have a salary of at least $10 million this season.

Some people think athletes’ salaries are out of control—especially when millions of Americans are out of work. They say it’s unfair that people like teachers and firefighters make much less than sports stars do.

But others point out that pro sports are billion-dollar businesses. The NFL, for example, made about $15 billion last season. Many people argue that athletes who actually play in the games deserve a large portion of that money.

Here’s what two of our readers think.

Pro athletes are great at what they do, but they’re still just playing a game. Did you know that the average salary for a nurse is about $77,000 per year but for an NFL player it’s $2.7 million? It’s not fair that people earn so much more for making a basket or scoring a goal than for risking their lives to save others.

It would be better for society if some of the money that goes to athletes were used for charities to help people in need.

Pro athletes are not overpaid. Sure, many of them make millions of dollars, but their leagues bring in billions. Athletes are the reason fans watch sports on TV, buy tickets to games, and buy a team’s merchandise.

Plus, athletes put in years of hard work to go pro, but they have less time to make money than people in other jobs do. For example, the average NFL player’s career lasts less than four years. Compare that to a businessperson who might work for 40 years.