Americans love their sports, and professional sports is a huge (very big) business here, as it is in some other countries. The most popular sports are baseball, American football, and basketball, with hockey, tennis, and golf being somewhat less popular. (Soccer is also popular in some cities, especially those with large Latino/Hispanic populations such as Los Angeles.) Professional athletes (people who play sports) can make a lot of money, sometimes for playing a relatively short amount of time.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau (the government agency or organization that figures out how many people there are in the US), it takes the average U.S. citizen about four years to earn $100,000. Because pro (professional) athletes are paid so much, they can do it much more quickly. For example, baseball star Alex Rodriguez (often called “A-Rod” for short) gets paid $33 million a year. This year he has seen 1,593 pitches (a pitch is one throw of the ball that the batter (the hitter) tries to hit). So each pitch so far is worth $15,856. A-Rod only needs to see six pitches to make $100,000. This could easily happen in less than two or three minutes in a single game.
Other pro athletes also make $100,000 in a very short time. LeBron James, a pro basketball player, played 3,054 minutes last year and made $100,000 every 21.4 minutes. Tiger Woods, the famous golfer, makes $100,000 for every 11 holes he plays. (In golf, there are 18 holes that the golfer has to put the golf ball into by hitting it with a long stick, called a club.) That would happen in less than a few hours.
But tennis pro Roger Federer “only” made $100,000 every 28 games, so he really has to work hard!
~Jeff
Hi Jeff,
What is shaking? Anything new down the road ? Hope you are doing great.
To me ,the question is not the staggering salary ;The real question is why they are paid the lump sum of money? Do you feel me Jeff?
I don’t care what you do for a living.Whatever you do, it does not worth upward of 30 million dollars,it is insane man.
It is a huge chunk of money that gives rise to another question. Why don’t they hit an early retirement? I mean ,33 million dollars set you for life ,no question about it. So ,why bother? I mean why they renew their contract? Life is short and we are not getting any younger.
Give me 10 million dollars and I will kiss good bye all the white and blue collar jobs.
Of course, elite sportmen and sportwomen make a lot of money, but it is very very dificult to become one of the best in any sport.
I would love to make the same amount of money as Roger Federer, but I will never be able to play tennis as he does it.
The real question is as Dr. Jeff points out, many sports are a huge business and they are moving so much money that the figures are amazing, because in addition to spectator in stadiums, there is television broadcasting all over the world, newspapers and magazines, advertisements and merchandising, sometimes fake goods, Definitively, loads and loads of money and lots of people earning their livings.
There are also very sad stories on people, normally in their childhood, who begin to train harder an harder for years, for instance to become a very good football player, or tennis player, or even into less well remunerated sports as swimming, supported with a great sacrifice from their parents and the most of them fail to get their dreams…just because it is very very dificult and undoubtedly who become within the elite are the best ones.
Even into the winners there are also sad stories. We call them “broken toy” because many of them fall into drugs or similar topics.
In any case, I love to watch how Rafael Nadal plays tennis, and I believe he is going to win the Open USA. I feel sad for Roger Federer but he will be able to win in another ocassion.
Best regards from Spain,
Julio (Jack).
The world is a chaos and the most chaotic living creature in it is the human being. Jeff you are punching me with this kind of news, you know it perfectly well and in fact I don´t know what to say about this ridiculous human behaviour.
What is there behind all this great amounts of money, paid to people that are doing really nothing about creativity thinking or inventions, and what about human knowledge or other kind of medical researches?. I can´t imagine the reason of it all.
I don´t really understand anything about us, the humans, may be I have fallen from Mars?. It´s possible.
Going on with Peter´s way of thinking, Yes, I agree with him……why so much money to plus?. They are going to carry the millions to the other life?.
Give me two or three millions of euros and I will do just what I like to do, the feeling of freedom and the posibility of enjoying every moment of life that is passing so fast always.
Yes, I am a pessimist and a beliver of the chaos theory that hasn´t any reasonable way of understanding what happens in our worl every day.
no meant to make a boorish comment. I respect them for all the hard work and scarification that has made them who they are today.
Yes, to me that´s the point, Julio has said just the truh of the matter, huge bussines that moves all kind of things. Big sport´s companies selling their
toys, telivision broadcasting around the world, newspaper and so much people living about the silly sport news, and so on.
Do humans have so boring life as to have this enormous enthusiasm about a man who can pitch a ball so well, or hit a balloon into a small place like
a basket or a porteria?. Or about a man who can play tennis along hours without rest?. Or putting a little ball into a difficult hole with as many hits
as possible?,
May be that´s the true. Our lifes are really so boring that we need to forget all kind of problems admiring the hability of these people doing
strange things, that are impossible for us being normal tired persons who can´t ever do an appropriate physical exercise.
I know nothing about sports, but I think it comes from the old Greek, Athens, where the atlets received more o less 500 dracmas from the State
if they won at the Olympic Games and the inside honor of be the winer.
On their heads were the laurel crown that was the ancient award for victory. A traditional symbol of victory, recognition, and reward.
Everybody respected them and it was enough.
Now these elite sports men or women who play in an equipe are like mercenaries who goes where they are paid too much money. Money is the
reward, and doesn´t matter if today they play with R.Madrid, Liverpool or Inter, tomorrow they´ll play in another equip or country.
I suppose that the same that is happening in Europe about football is happening all over the world with other sports.
The others individual figures, yes, I am not from out of earth and I do like that a spanish ciclist or Rafael Nadal may win if he plays a good match. But I like him as a person too, and this is much more important that being an elyte deportist. Again, Nadal or Corredor, or Federer or whichever other sportsman win too much money
as my personal opinion.
Sorry, I know that the majority of the blog friends are in disagreement with me, and sure Jeff too, but this is my point of view.
Hello there! I think it’s not only a matter of money. These guys aren’t a hardworking or a money hunter, the point is, they simply love what they do. In my life and career I’ve learned that when you love what you do, the sucess, famous and obviously the wealth comes for consequence. That’s why they usually don’t stop playing when they reach the top, just because their jorney along the way is for pleasure and fun, so that the retirement comes only after a considerably period of time. I agree with you (in parts) that there are lots of others interests involved on it, such as television broadcasting, newspapers, magazines, advertisements, merchandising and consumer goods among other kinda stuff that sponsors works for. But, you have to think about the real purpose besides money, the athletes pursuit for the gold medal and first place on podium. Best regards from Brazil ! Fabio
Hi! everybody
Here in Italy it’s the same with footballer. In my opininon that’s wrong, that’s why I do not watch TV and do not buy sport magazines as well.
They will not get a cent from my pocket.
Did we see any similitudes between our new big sports stadium and the old Roman Coliseum?…..Let we read what is said about the old Roman Coliseum:
“The Roman Colosseum
(Colosseu, Coliseum)
In the first century AD, the Amphitheatrum Flavium, a.k.a. Colosseum or Coliseum, was erected as a gift to the Roman citizens. Vespasian started construction of the Coliseum in 72 AD in the grounds of Emperor Nero’s (37-68 AD) private residence, Domus Aurea, and his son Titus inaugurated it in 80 AD. Over 160 ft high with eighty entrances, the Coliseum could hold upwards of 50,000 spectators. Public events such as gladiator fights, mock naval battles and wild animal hunts were held at the Coliseum. From the fourth story of the Coliseum wooden masts supported a linen awning that protected spectators from the sun. The Coliseum boasted seats of marble for the upper class, and benches of wood for the lower.
Inaugural games lasted for 100 days and nights, during which some 5,000 animals were slaughtered. Trajan once held games that lasted for 117 days, during which some 9,000 gladiators fought to the death. Fighters wereslaves, prisoners or volunteers. Spectators saw persecuted Christians killed by lions. After 404 AD gladiatorial battles were no longer held, but animals such as lions, elephants, snakes and panthers continued to be massacred in the name of sport until the 6th century”.
This was the largest one in Rome, but along centuries every big city among the Imperium has one where in the name of sports and people benefits
or fun the gladiators fight till death, lions eat slaves or christians and the citizens didn´t think about their own problems. Of course that was the proposal of the Emperors and the upper class.
More or less the same like now but without blood or deaths on the fields. Yes, I know there is nothing to do about the matter, humans are so
and we are not going to change ever.
Unlike USA,Canadian goes crazy about hockey . In fact, I have a bunch of Canadian friends ( native speakers) asking me to join them every time a hockey game is up. But,the problem is I don’t know the first thing about hockey. I goggle it one or twice, but what I got was a ambiguous explanation about how it is done.
Canadians go
An ambiguous
Not a cent from mine either Daniele, thank you, we are two already.
I don´t feel like a green dog now.