What the Hell Happened ?

What exactly happened to the world in the last 30 years or so? I remember a time when athletes made a very fine but reasonable living. A family of 4 could go to see their local sports team play without it qualifying as a “life decision”. How did athletes become market proof in an economic time when record numbers of people are unemployed? Please don’t come at me with “Movie stars make $20 mil a movie, why are you picking on athletes”? Guess what, when a movie ticket goes up to $40 or $50 a pop I’ll be roasting them too. One fight at a time, kids.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the mean (average) income in the US in 1975 was $13,779 ($45,894 in 2006 dollars). In 2006 the mean income was $66,570. This means that in 31 years, the mean income for American workers has gone up 45%. I’ll just use an average and say it has gone up 1.5% per year for John and Jane Q. Public.

Now, “Mr. I Play Sports” has a slightly different story. For example, in the NFL the mean salary of a player in 1975 was $42,500 ($142,555 in 2006 dollars). The mean salary in 2006 was $1,400,000. That was not a typo; it went from $142.5k to a cool $1.4 mil. That’s a ridiculous 882% increase over the same 31 years! Our annual estimate for them shows a 28.5% per year increase. The average NFL player has received a raise each year almost equal to the raise we have received in the last 31 years combined! Are you kidding me with this?

Why get a degree when you can make 100x the money if you can jump, run, catch or shoot? Don’t get it twisted; I don’t blame the athletes for taking what they can get. What I am angry about is that WE let it happen. WE drank the kool- aid down to the very bottom and have begged for more, please. My frustration is with us, you and me and everyone else who still buy the tickets, buy the jerseys, and buy the hats. It is us, the rabid fans that can’t wait to see Sportscenter because T.O. and OchoCinco are on our fantasy teams. We need to stop being part of the problem and start being a part of the solution. So, my question is, what are we going to do about it?

Next blog, I look at some other ways we all pay homage (and cash) to the almighty sports machine.