Time to give the women a pay raise

  • Thread starter Thread starter JoeShlabotnik
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What if no one cares? What if the sport is boring? I know that it is exciting for you, but I couldn’t care less about any sport.

I think the Roller Derby needs a huge pay increase.
 
Ya’ll do realize that OP has been suspended, right? He won’t be replying for a while.
 
Not caring about the cost is essentially the same thing as not having an issue with sports compensation. Anyone willing to pay $200 plus to watch a game for a few hours clearly has no issue woth the money side of sports.
Firefighting is hard to compare to other occupations. They typically work 10 24hr shifts/mth, with 20 days off, for which they are paid a full salary. A good deal of that time on shift is not really spent working, as they are allowed to sleep, eat, play cards, etc. Imo they are paid handsomely compared to similar public occupations (ie: active duty soldiers) for what they do. Many chose to significantly supplement their income during their 20 says off - the ability to do so has to be considered part of their compensation. It’s meaningless to compare them to occupations like professional sports. No ordinary person expects to make an elite athlete’s salary.
 
I am bowing out of this thread. No one has addressed my point that athletes are overpaid. Everyone wants to explain the economics of ticket sales, merchandising and every other offshoot because the athletes are paid what they are paid.

I think that it is insane that athletes are raised to the level of receiving what they do for playing a sport. Are they enjoyable to watch? Yes, but are they worth the money they receive? No.

“No ordinary person expects to make an elite athlete’s salary.” No, they don’t, but that doesn’t mean the athlete should get it either. I don’t know what makes them “elite” in your eyes, but no one is irreplaceable. Life, and the game go on when a player retires.

@Socrates92, your assessment of what firefighters earn and how you see them spending their days is telling. By the way, tell that to small city fire departments, or places that run with vounteer fire departments. Nice to know that they should be happy with their salaries because all they do is sit around all day waiting for the next fire.
 
I was not addressing volunteer firefighting. I am aware that their system is very dufferent, and much less lucrative. I wasn’t aware that that was what you were referring to.
 
Irishmom2 said:
I am bowing out of this thread. No one has addressed my point that athletes are overpaid. Everyone wants to explain the economics of ticket sales, merchandising and every other offshoot because the athletes are paid what they are paid.
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They are totally overpaid. So are professional actors and pop musicians.

It’s the entertainment industry as a whole (which pro sports is a part of). The “elite” members of the industry make a ton while the people trying to break in make scraps.

It’s a product of us paying too much to be entertained and unions fighting to making sure the profits are shared with the talent instead of going just to ownership.

So while I totally agree that they make too much money, I can’t think of a fair way to change that unless we all stop supporting the entrainment industry - which we know won’t happen.
 
They women can only play who are on their schedule. At least they play Spain, France, Japan, Germany, England, and other big nations in international soccer.
Its not like that American men’s schedule with all those little island countries that most people have never heard of.
 
YourNameHere said:
Do those women scare you?
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No, because they don’t exist, but if they did, I would be delighted. I’d love to see a woman who could break through an offensive line and ring Tom Brady’s bell. It would be so much fun!
 
YourNameHere said:
They women can only play who are on their schedule. At least they play Spain, France, Japan, Germany, England, and other big nations in international soccer.
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Which is still less competitive, and to an immensely large degree. The women’s programs in these typically progressive countries is considerably lacking.

I enjoyed the Women’s WC a lot but if you want equal pay it needs to come from you: as in you personally. By watching the games. Because right now the pay is equitable.
 
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Irishmom2 said:
I am bowing out of this thread. No one has addressed my point that athletes are overpaid. Everyone wants to explain the economics of ticket sales, merchandising and every other offshoot because the athletes are paid what they are paid.
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Your point is a little off subject, but I will address it. Are they overpaid? Yes. But when we look at professional sports, they take in a lot of money. Who should the money go to? Lets just pay the athletes a living wage, or perhaps a couple of hundred thousand, and let the owners keep all of the money? I hardly think that is fair, or wise. If we want a free enterprise economy, there are going to be industries that take in a lot of money relative to their work force. Not a lot we can do about it.
 
Roller derby? Do they still play that? I have always though of roller derby as professional wrestling on skates. Fake fights, etc. 🤣🤣🤣
 
The USSF collects most of the money. They can use that money however they wish to use it. The women do most of the winning. They should receive more than the men.
 
I agree that it is ridiculous that athletes make as much as they do, but really it is a pointless argument. You say that athletes should be payed less; does that mean that the owners should keep far more money? If the athletes are overpaid because they are just playing a game, then it would also be reasonable to say that the owners also make too much because they just own a sports team. The reality though is that people like sports and they like wearing the gear; so the teams are going to make a lot of money. What do you suggest? Should the money be confiscated by the govt?
 
YourNameHere said:
The USSF collects most of the money. They can use that money however they wish to use it. The women do most of the winning. They should receive more than the men.
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I’m sorry, but US Soccer does pay the women almost the same as the men. They get a min salary of $100,000 for each player. The men don’t get a salary.

The men’s tournaments pay the men more than women’s tournaments pay.

If both teams (men and women) loose every single game, the players on both teams will make $100,000 - they will make the same.

The problem is that when they win, the bonus money is different.

The collective bargaining agreement with the men say they get 7% bonus for each win. The women’s collective bargaining agreement says they get 20% for each win.

The difference is that when the men win - the purse (which is NOT controlled by US Soccer) is higher than the women’s.

So when the men win, their 7% bonus turns out to be higher than the women’s 20% bonus.

That’s why it’s working out that the women are making 89% of what the men make. The men’s 7% bonuses are turning out to be $28,333 more per player than the women’s 20% bonuses.

Honestly, let’s look at it like this: The Men’s World Cup had $400 Million total in prize money, with the winning team receiving $30 million. The Women’s World Cup team have only $30 Million in TOTAL price money - so the US team only received $4 Million.

USSF tried to make it as even as possible, but they are contractually obligated to pay the men 7% and the women 20%.

Should US Soccer take $28,333 per player (how many times that is) away from their youth programs in order to give the highest paid female soccer players in the world more money?

Where is the extra money supposed to come from? What does US Soccer cut in order to pay the women more?

US Soccer does not know how much money each tournament purse will be when signing the collective bargaining agreements. The women signed off on what they thought was fair and the men reluctantly agreed to what they considered a crappy offer.

So again, where does the extra money come from? Should they take it away from the youth programs?
 
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Babaganoush said:
Why is that fair if the men bring in most of the money?
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To be fair, the men don’t every year. Between 2016 and 2018, the women brought in a total of $900,000 more than the men. But when you look at 2015 to 2018, the men brought in $10.8 Million more than the women.

US Soccer has been trying to make it even. But it’s difficult when a big part of their pay is based on bonus, which are not under the control of US Soccer.
 
Actually, professional athletes don’t make that much money. It just seems like they do because they make so much in a year, but when you consider how short their careers are, their career earnings are comparable to middle class workers, except for the top 10-20% of the players. Many former professional athletes go bankrupt because they failed to comprehend how little they’re actually being paid, especially after taxes. It’s only the star players who make millions per year, and they are responsible for generating most of the revenue: they’re the ones all the spectators both in the stands and watching on TV are paying to see, and everybody else is just there to enable them to do it and see if they can take their place.
 
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