[635 G]

Everyday, I see news about ball players & sports figures getting salaries in 100's of millions of dollars. Now if you are a fan & paying to see these games, how can you have any self esteem? If your a Dr., lawyer or a business owner---you gotta feel like a first class schmuck to pay people this kind of money that kids play for free. Its time to put all pro sports back in to reality---you don't see minor league athletes & college players picketing for equal pay. Even though their chances of getting injured are just about equal to those of the pros.

Phil Berkowitz

 

[APrice]

Phil, the free market takes care of these problems.

 

[Uncle Sam]

As to the original question........Yes...definitely.

 

[1oz]

Pretty sad some can not spell their name but did you see that pass , home run or 3 pointer . I did read a while back college kids are starting to want in the action with pay saying that they could be injuried playing college ball .
If they relied on me they would be in the soup line .

JW

 

[GW22]

Being stupid in America is not only tolerated, it's often subsidized by the government too. So why not take their money? It's just business.

-Gary

 

[Beretta687EELL]

Actually, the taxpayer is who pays a significant portion of these exorbitant salaries. Businesses pay for a lot of the tickets and all the advertising. These are tax deductible expenses ... If everyone who got a "free" ticket to the game payed income tax on that value, I bet you would see lots of empty seats. Bill Malcolm

 

[likes-to-shoot]

Taxpayers also pay for new stadiums on a regular basis.

 

[Setterman]

I'll pay to see a pro Hockey game, but not anything else.

The Hockey guys earn their pay and are seldom cocky about it, and the fans are special too.

 

[Chango2]

Bring back a manned space program; maybe sports merely feed our "need" for single combat warriors. The stars get their money due to their advertising value; IMO, a "sports star" has perceived value as a catalyst to sell stuff. I bet if we had other "heroes", that is regular men and women doing amazing things in ordinary venues, the value of a "sports star" would diminish.

BTW, surprised that John Force, the funny car dragracer, was dropped by Ford.

Could this be an inkling of a start of a trend in sports wherein companies are wising up re. the value of supporting a sport or its stars?

 

[Bisi]

A guy just might be worth millions if he can attract people by the thousands to the ballpark and get those people to fork over $8 for a beer and $6 for a hotdog.

 

[Brian in Oregon]

<i>"Taxpayers also pay for new stadiums on a regular basis. "</i>

THAT is what REALLY cheeses me off about pro-sports.

With all the multi-million dollar salaries, multi-million dollar advertising, etc etc etc WHY are taxpayers footing the bill for stadiums?

 

[GW22]

I agree, in many cases, about the taxpayers getting hosed footing the bill for stadiums and the team owners not having to share enough of the burden. But again, if we (the taxpayers) are collectively dumb enough to tolerate it then why would the politicians and team owners not go ahead and do it? An innate sense of right & wrong? Moral conscience? Gimme a break.

Sheep get sheared. That's just reality and, more than ever, Americans have become sheep.

-Gary

 

[pumpernck]

Taxpayers are footing the bill for stadiums because they are stupid enough to vote for them. Never underestimate the stupidity of the American public. I, personally, do not watch the NBA games,NFL games or even baseball games anymore. Most all are a bunch of hoods. Most all are bankrupt shortly(4 yrs. in the NBA) after they are let go from the leagues. How can someone go through that much $$$ in such a short period of time??? They are uneducated and should remind us why income redistribution DOES NOT WORK!!!
If you took all of the $$$ in the world and redistributed it evenly to every person in the world, you know what you would find... in several years, the rich would become rich again, and the poor, for the most part, would be poor again. That is just the way it is. In short, GW has it right.

 

[Setterman]

Publicly funded stadiums are a reality because of spending dollars generated by games. 100,000 fans spending $200-$500 per game (rooms, meals, booze, etc).

Tax base and sales base. And no city wants to lose their team. If your town won't fund a stadium the owners may go to one that will.

The Ravens use to be in Cleveland, and the Colts were in Baltimore. How many more can you name?

 

[GW22]

Setterman:

So was it a good thing that Cleveland built that new $300M open-air stadium so the new Browns could play 8 games per year and take a beating 14 years in a row? ESPN played a tape of some local media idiot there saying their 14 year-old stadium was "beyond fixing" and they should "level it and start over." Undoubtedly, many of the sheep agreed.

-Gary

 

[Setterman]

GW, I didn't say it was good or bad. My own opinion.., I think it is stupid for taxpayers to build a stadium for a multimillion entity. But, it's similiar to tax abatements, State revolving loan funds, and grants. Once someone starts it, there's a competition to see where the Team owners can get the best deal.

They'll use the threat as huge bargaining tool.

BTW, Art Modell was an anal cavity.

 

[GW22]

We're of like mind.

-Gary

 

[halfmile]

The Packers bring a lot of money to green Bay. All year long the Pro Shop is busy, the Hall of Fame is busy, and the hotels, restaurants, and stores get extra business. Packer stuff is everywhere, all the stores sell it.

We did have an extra 1/2 percent on the sales tax in our county to pay for an addition but it was probably worth it.

Unlike other teams, the Pack can never leave Green Bay, and if sold the proceeds go to the American Legion post here. Not very likely.

Salaries? Television is responsible for that. So if you watch the games, you help make it possible. It has nothing to do with whether what the player does is woth that much.

I can't speak for the rest of the country, but for us in Green Bay it's part of our culture. And, I have to add, GB is recognized everywhere for it.

I watch most of the games, but if I miss one it's no big deal.

To sum up, if the money doesn't come out of your own pocket, what's the big deal? TV and Movie stars get that big money too, and sports figures are the same thing.

HM

HM

 

[chuckie68]

Setterman,

I have season tickets to the Red Wings-----'nough said.

Chuck

 

[Frenchy]

Face the truth folks "AMERICANS ARE STUPID" look who they elected to the
white house.After getting T V free for years who pays for T V to watch reruns?
See the people run the country BUT they have forgotten that they do.Life is a simple thing.Want to see salaries come down STAY HOME,want to see ticket prices
come down STAY HOME,want to see food prices at the park come down STAY HOME.I do
not think this will ever happen because AMERICANS ARE STUPID. Just my 2cents worth