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When was the last time you heard about a Sports franchise or a film studio going bankrupt?

That should answer your question right there. If they pay them large sums and still see returns it’s a fair pay.

Personally I think the amount they are paid is ridiculous, however, they wouldn’t be paid so much if they didn’t have people coming to the games and buying all their stuff. So, they get what they are worth to the team. If people have a problem with the pay, then stop supporting the sport. If you love the sport too much to give it up to do that, then get over it and stop whining about how much they make.

The same goes for actors too of course. People complain about how much actors make and yet they still go to the movies and buy the DVDs. They are making what the consumers say with their pocketbooks they are worth.

I used to think they are, but in reality they aren't. There are those who can play, and those who can't. Those who can deserve to get paid high amounts, just as if you are the best in business because that is what you deserve. If i recall Jared, you did not want Obama's health care plan which treats everyone as equals essentially, so why would you say that athletes are paid too much for being the best at what they do?

Being an athlete is not doing anything for society. Being the best in business means that you are creating jobs for people and actually put a product on the market.

What are athletes and actors contributing to society? Sure, they are run by businessmen, but that's a different story.

If athletes were being paid too much then people would should stop paying ticket prices or watching them on TV, go to minor league games instead. Same with Hollywood celebrities. Stop going to their movies, or just watch indie films or something. They are in fact producing something of marketable value, even if it's something we individually might not approve of (ie, someone who thinks movies, tv or sports are boring or socially repugnant for some reason).

Being the best in sport or acting means that they are producing some marketable value over and above their competition. In sports, it is helping win games for their team (or winning events and tournaments in individual sports like golf). This is deemed valuable by the greater society. Enough so that we redistribute our income to appreciate their achievements by attending to them with actual investment (presumably so we can have more achievements in the future). There can be individual players who are in this sense "overpaid" because they do not actually contribute a significant market value relative to what they receive. But this is generally balanced by a large number of players who are underpaid based on that logic (often role players like lineman or defensive specialists).

Now if you wanted to argue whether public investment in stadiums was appropriate that's a different matter. There's certainly no good evidence for this stimulating the local economy, despite the claims of developers and politicians. It's more of a civic pride issue at that point.

Public investment in stadiums is going downhill. This goes for the Yankees also. The city owned the original stadium, and then what did Yankees management do? They are gaining millions of dollars in profits each year and decided to build a stadium of their own. They wanted to cut out the public in the profits.

The fact of the matter is that the NFL, MLB, NHL, and NBA are monopolies and the government hasn't done anything about it. No league can come in and blow them away for at least a century.

If you wanted to pinpoint certain professional players getting paid too much you can; for example Alex Rodriguez and players of his stature, yes their pay is over the top. Overall though, you can not say that all professional athletes make too much money because of the work that they put in. These players have been training since they were kids to get to this point, they work countless hours whether its game day or practice, or even before the season practicing, they are always practicing because its their job. On top of this players are constantly traveling and away from their families, they have to answer and talk to media, and they are expected to constantly perform and if they don't they are booed and harassed by fans. Look at NHL players salaries and look at minor leaguers' salaries who are still considered professional athletes, see how much they get paid for all the work that they put in.

They're paid what we think they're worth. Anyone who sees a Hollywood movie or goes to a sporting event, or buys a DVD or buys sports apparel, is contributing to the inflated wealth of people asked to perform for everyone's entertainment.

The fact that professional athletes get paid large sums of money just to play their favorite sport does sound a little crazy but think about all the people that work as police officers or firefighters, if you're good at something then of course you're going to be paid more. But i do think that being a professional athelete doesn't help our country or our growing problems with the economy. People are struggling as it is when it comes to money and trying to keep a job is probably one of the hardest things out there right now and the people who earn a million dollars a year pretty much swim in money and buy things that they don't even need! while we try and buy the most important things that we need with the little money that we make. Now i understand that we love to watch our favorite atheletes play your favorite sports, but think about this: What are they doing for us? Why do working class families get paid so little for the hard work that they do while athletes get paid $20,000 dollars for every basket they make or every home run they hit?

There's no way they're worth that much money per movie. The entire system is corrupt, if actors were paid less, and movies cost less there'd be no issue. However, we live in a society where entertainment rules. The teachers, artists, sanitary workers, scientists, and even standard doctors aren't really paid as much as they're worth. It should change, in my opinion, but my voice and opinion honestly will not affect you or the world at this point in time. Most people are too stuck in their ways to be able to change. People, in general, neither appreciate the work of the common man or people who promote a timeless culture in their work. We focus much too much on the media to stay up to date. It is not neccessary for the world to act in this way, but this is how most things go. Actors deserve to get most of the money they make, based upon the amount of money put into production and the money that people are willing to put into purchasing and viewing the films. The whole entertainment system shouldn't make the money it does.

That was put very eloquently

Yes…and no. As others have said, if we didn't see the movies or watch the games, none of them would be paid anywhere near as much. Then again, our society would look completely different. True, if execs put a cap on salaries (and then lowered prices for movies/games), if advertisers refused to pay millions for a Super Bowl ad, if general people decided to stop caring about celebs' lives…we wouldn't spend as much in those areas and put money in other things. But Hollywood wouldn't be what it is (and all the people who report on it wouldn't have jobs, or at least ones that paid so well), and there wouldn't be much of an ESPN. I don't like that they make so much, but it won't change anytime soon. Besides, I get a lot of enjoyment from shows like The Soup, which wouldn't exist without celebrities. Also, think of all the people on the internet that make shows about bad movies – things that wouldn't exist without Hollywood. It is what it is. The solution isn't in paying them less.