Negative Impacts of Large Salaries of Professional Athletes - Essay Example

 Negative impacts of large salaries of professional athletes on both the athletes and the sports Introduction Athletes are among the highest paid sport people with athletes winning as much as thirty million dollars in such sports as boxing and marathons among many others similar athletics. While the large salaries are justifiable owing to the intensity of training and the risks that the bodies of the individual athletes go through, the large salaries have several negative effects on both the sports and the athletes as is corroborated by some living examples. The concentration of the professional athletes have seamlessly shifted from the sports to the large salaries they earn a feature that has consequently tarnished the reputation of the sports since most people view the sports as money minting businesses thereby denying the sports the glamor and appropriate following they have always enjoyed as the essay below portray. The large salary paid to athletes has been a controversial issue since time immemorial. Olympic gold winners such as Usain Bolt and Mike Tyson have topped the table of some of the highest paid athletes in the histories of their respective sports. Athletes make as much as thirty million dollars in a single sports event while a professional doctor in the united states may earn an average salary of slightly over $500,000 a year. The disparity is large a feature that makes athletes live a particular type of life that has consequently defamed both themselves and their respective sports. Among the living examples of poor management of the large salaries, include the life of the professional boxer Mike Tyson and several other athletes in Africa who have lived recklessly thereby losing either their lives or limbs thereby missing the sports (Mottram, 2005). Among the reasons that lead to the poor reputation the large salaries have earned to both the sports and the athletes include the motivation arising from the large salaries. The athletes have therefore resorted to doing anything possible to win the medals in order to earn the large salaries. As explained earlier, the large salaries are often both a motivation and a reward for the strenuous exercises the athletes undergo during their sports. However, the fame and the millions of dollars have affected the lives of the athletes negatively thereby tarnishing the reputation of the sports. Doping for example is a contentious issue in athletes with the sports organizers calling back and banning many athletes who have won their trophies unscrupulously (Santo & Mildner, 2010). At the 1988, Ben Johnson a Canadian won the 100M race amid claims of doping. He later failed the drug test a feature that led to the organizers reclaiming the medal thereby banning him from participating in similar events for life. The increase in the use of performance enhancers has proved that the athletes have resorted to defaming both themselves and the sports in a bid to increase their performances (Teitelbaum, 2010). Athletes use illegal substances in order to increase their performance thereby enhancing their chances of winning the millions of dollars in prize money. The increase in such incidences makes the sports unpopular among the public who spend their money to watch such sports. The fact that the organization of the sports cannot carry out extensive tests and determine qualified athletes to take part in such sports portrays a weakness in the organizers of such highly celebrated sports events as the Olympics among many others. The large salaries are the greatest motivation for the professional athletes to use the performance enhancing drugs. The promise that a single trophy is capable of changing an individual’s life is a motivation enough for any upcoming athlete to try any of the banned substances. Unknown to most of the athletes, the drugs do not only risk defaming them but also have lasting effects on their health. Several athletes have suffered perpetual drug addiction owing to their exposure of the banned drugs, which they used in order to increase their performance. Furthermore, some have died owing to the effects of the drugs on the performance of the heart among other fundamental body organs. Doping has therefore affected the reputation of different sports including sprints and cycling among other sports as the organizers of such sports receive claim of doping and have to compel athletes to lose their titles. Another equally great negative effect of the large salaries is the lifestyle of the sportspeople. Interests and performance in athletics are inborn talents; most athletes identify their talents early in life and therefore opt not to continue with their studies in order to concentrate in nurturing their talents. This implies that the athletes earn the large amounts of money without any financial management skills. Coupled with the fact that some of them come from poor families in Africa; the large salaries affect their judgments as they strive to maintain the stardom life style. Most athletes have often had marital wrangles and costly divorces, as was the case with Tiger Woods a famed golfer. Athletes are celebrity role models in their societies; this implies that they must set good examples to their fans. The dedicated media attention on such individuals further aggravates the effects of the large salaries as they strive to live to the newly acquired standards. The large salaries require effective management that may only arise if the athletes either have effective financial management skills or hire a financial manager both of which most of the athletes never have. The result of the large salaries therefore is reckless life styles as the celebrated athletes get into major scandals some of which end up with the athletes losing most of their earnings while in some grave cases the athletes lose their lives (Dunleavy, Miracle & Rees, 1982). Such athletes as Mike Tyson have never enjoyed their retirements since they are not only old but are equally penniless and cannot therefore afford the expensive treatments and comfortable life required at such advanced ages. The athletes for example made more money in his lifetime than any other boxer; it thus becomes ironical that such a celebrated boxer ended up insolvent and destitute. The life of Mike Tyson epitomizes recklessness a feature that did not only defame the sport but also himself and those around him. In a summary, large salaries are good since they reward the risks and motivate young talents. However, the athletes have consequently concentrated on the sports and therefore indulged in unethical practices both in their private lives and during the sports thereby tarnishing the reputation of the sports. Doping is currently a phenomenal issue in different athletics owing to the fact that most athletes resort to doping in order to improve their chances of winning a feature that denies the sports their neutrality, which the audience enjoys (Franke & Berendonk, 1997). Furthermore, the reckless lifestyle of most of the highly paid athletes does not earn them any glorification in the society. References Dunleavy, A. O., Miracle, A. W., & Rees, C. R. (1982). Studies in the sociology of sport. Fort Worth: Texas Christian University Press. Franke, W.W. & Berendonk, B. (July 1997). "Hormonal doping and androgenization of athletes: a secret program of the German Democratic Republic government". Clinical chemistry 43 (7): 1262–79. Mottram, D. (2005). Drugs in Sport. New York: Routledge. Santo, C. A., & Mildner, G. C. S. (2010). Sport and public policy: Social, political, and economic perspectives. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics. Teitelbaum, S. H. (2010). Athletes who indulge their dark side: Sex, drugs, and cover-ups. Santa Barbara, Calif: Praeger. Read More