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The Value of Athletes
by
Bart Frazier,
January 2002
Some people complain that professional athletes make too much money -- that
the salaries they receive are ridiculously high, perhaps even immoral. But
is this actually the case? Aren't athletes' salaries, like everyone else's
in the private sector, ultimately determined by the desires or demand of
consumers? Isn't that how the value of everyone's services is actually
ascertained in the marketplace? Critics say that it's not right that other
more "socially important" jobs in society don't pay as well. But who should
determine what is "socially important" -- some bureaucrat at the Bureau of
Labor and Statistics or consumers in the marketplace? Value and "importance"
are subjective. And the actions of individuals in the marketplace -- their
actions of buying and selling -- reveal their subjective preferences. The
fact that a person willingly parts with $1,500 in exchange for NFL season
tickets reflects that he places a higher value on the tickets than on the
$1500 (and the alternative uses of the $1500). It just so happens that lots
of consumers place a high value on watching professional athletes play
football, basketball, and other sports, just as they place a high value on
watching certain rock stars sing songs. How can that make the size of
salaries too high or even immoral? The salaries simply reflect the value
preferences of millions of fans. Isn't that what the free market is all
about?
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