Excessive Salaries in Professional Baseball Essay -- MLB Sports Athlet

Abstract This paper addresses the issue of the extreme increases in salaries of major league baseball players. It looks at the effects of these increases on all areas of the game, from competitiveness, to fan appeal, to financial issues. It also looks at the different perspectives of all involved, including the owners, players, and the fans. Also shown in the paper are the possible solutions to the problem of baseball salaries, along with some of the possible negative outcomes in the future if nothing is done Baseball’s Skyrocketing Salaries It can no longer be said that baseball is just a game. Actually, it has been many years since that statement could be considered true. Only recently, however, did the entire nation, not just sports fans realize the extent to which this fact is true. Athletes, for the most part, have always been paid better than the average American; but now, with Alex Rodriguez’s new contract, he is truthfully worth just as much as the entire franchise that he plays for.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Baseball salaries have skyrocketed out of control, and something must be done before the integrity of the game, and eventually, the game itself is destroyed. There are many reasons why this will happen, and this claim will be supported by the viewpoints of all involved, players, owners, and fans. Many of the cold, hard facts related to this salary increase will be shown, along with exactly what has caused this exponential increase in pay.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  While the outcry against the outrageous contracts that the players receive only recently become national news, the anger towards the players for this dates back to the beginning of the game. However, since the creation of free agency in 1976, the increase in pay has become out of control. In order to see this, one only has to look at the first two years of free agency, where salaries doubled (Bodley, 2000, par. 17). Additionally, the average salary is currently forty times higher than it was in 1976 (Fisher & Heller, 2001, par. 4).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Baseball was the first sport to have free agency, and as it currently stands, the last to control it. All other major sports, basketball, football, and hockey, have plans in place in order to keep a check on salaries. As a result, they are not facing the crisis that Major League Baseball will soon have to deal with. These sports all have a form of a salary cap or some revenue sha... ... Fisher, E., Heller, D. (2001). Financial House of Cards. Insight on the News, 25 paragraphs. Retrieved February 24, 2001 from Friends University Library on-line Database: http://library.friends.edu:2059. Fuhr, J. (1999). Stee-rike Four! What’s Wrong With the Business of Baseball? Atlanta Economic Journal, 27(2), 38 paragraphs. Retrieved February 24, 2001 from Friends University Library on-line Database: http:library.friends.edu:2066. Noonan, D. (2000, December 8). Show me the Most Money. Newsweek, 57-58. Ozanian, M. (2000, June 12). Too Much to Lose. Forbes, 12 paragraphs. Retrieved February 24, 2001 from Friends University Library on-line Database: http://library.friends.edu:2059. Saraceno, J. (2000 December 13). Blame Owner: Don’t Envy A-Rod’s Green. USA Today, 26 paragraphs. Retrieved from Friends University Library on line Database. http://library.friends.edu:2059. Sullivan, R. (2000, December 25). Big Bucks and Baseball: The Idea of Overpaying for an Athlete’s Services didn’t Start with A-Rod, and it won’t stop with him. Time, 5 paragraphs. Retrieved February 24, 2001, from Friends University Library on-line Database. http://library.friends.edu:2059.