this post was submitted on 11 Feb 2024
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Unpopular Opinion

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No offense or judgement meant to anyone if that's your thing (to each their own). That's just how I see pretty much all professional sports - the super bowl is just the poster child for it.

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[–] Phegan@lemmy.world 160 points 1 year ago (3 children)

The players on the field have more in common than us than the billionaires who own the teams. Don't confuse them for the actual rich class. Over an average NFL career most players make less money than most people will over their career, and they leave football with severely damaged bodies and minds.

They are workers just like us, many of them go on to live in poverty, just like us. The players aren't your enemy, the owners are.

[–] Anti_Iridium@lemmy.world 38 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Something about Dallas Cowboys owner being in a crowd protesting integration.

[–] Pratai@lemmy.ca 26 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (5 children)
[–] Liz@midwest.social 65 points 1 year ago (4 children)

What's the difference between a million dollars and a billion dollars?

It's a billion dollars.

You've still got way more in common with the players than the owners.

[–] PwnTra1n@lemmy.world 37 points 1 year ago (1 children)

i have more in common with the homeless guy on the corner than the football players tho

[–] Anti_Iridium@lemmy.world 23 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I said to another comment as of 2015 80% of retired players went bankrupt

They might even be that homeless guy on the corner.

[–] PwnTra1n@lemmy.world 19 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I don’t feel bad for people mismanaging their millions when people are struggling to live day to day.

[–] Anti_Iridium@lemmy.world 15 points 1 year ago

I don't either, I'm just saying they are too a victim of society, not the benefactors

[–] Pratai@lemmy.ca 5 points 1 year ago

No, I don’t.

What's the difference between 50k a year and 2.8M a year? About 2.8M.

[–] Snapz@lemmy.world 17 points 1 year ago (3 children)

Average doesn't work so great here with those QBs at the top making $50m a year, bud

The QB is still a player on the field.

[–] lp0_on_fire@lemmy.world 3 points 1 year ago

Surprisingly one of the quarterbacks playing tonight had a salary under a million. Though I expect that won't be the case for him next season after making it to the Super Bowl.

[–] prettybunnys@sh.itjust.works 1 points 1 year ago

The point is that for the amount of money being generated off of them playing a sport that harms their body they aren’t being paid properly.

It’s a pretty solid comparison to the worker who gives their time and youth to be paid but typically rarely see a fraction of what they generate.

NFL players make more money usually, but the comparison is apt.

[–] Signtist@lemm.ee 16 points 1 year ago

Yeah, at first I thought they were saying it evened out considering most people's careers are longer than an NFL player's, but even just 1 year as an NFL player nets more money than I'll ever earn in my life. Several lose it all, but that's from spending it on hookers and blow, not because they're forced to live paycheck to paycheck.

[–] Anti_Iridium@lemmy.world 8 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Did you read the rest? The median (which means half makes less, and half makes more is 860k.

That means if they get the crap beaten out of them, and save every single penny and don't pay takes, they would have 3.4 million.

As of 2015 80% went bankrupt

I don't do odds that bad.

[–] Anticorp@lemmy.world 7 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

A lot of them go bankrupt because they've never had money before and someone hands them three million dollars. They're rich and famous overnight, with no financial planning experience, and they party like... well they party like the ballers they are. Football and basketball players waste so much money that the word "baller" is synonymous with someone who throws a lot of money around.

But make no mistake, if someone handed you or I three million dollars, we could invest it and retire for the rest of our lives. They make a lot of money, and a lot of money all at once is worth a hell of a lot more than a lot of money spread out over a lifetime. But a lot of them make really poor financial choices too, because they're just kids.

[–] Anti_Iridium@lemmy.world 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

They aren't getting that amount at once.

[–] Anticorp@lemmy.world 7 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

They get big fat paychecks when they sign their contracts. Lower paid players aren't getting $3M all at once, but they get tens of thousands of dollars all at once, and it keeps coming every week. Even the lowest paid rookie players who only get the $750,000 rookie base salary get it over 17 weeks. That's $44,117.64 every week for 17 weeks. That's a fuck ton of money all at once, especially for a kid who has never had any.

For reference:

NFL Veteran Minimum Salary

The minimum salary for NFL players with one year of experience is $870,000. It increases with each year:

Rookie: $750,000
1 Year: $870,000
2 Years: $940,000
3 Years: $1.01 million
4-6 Years: $1.08 million
7+ Years: $1.65 million
[–] Anti_Iridium@lemmy.world 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

And if the median is 860k, how many are making the salary of one year veterancy? Less than half?

[–] just_change_it@lemmy.world 1 points 1 year ago

Partial years, LOTS of rookies on backup teams making partial wages maybe.

[–] Phegan@lemmy.world 5 points 1 year ago

First. You still have more in common with players than owners.

Second what's the average career length of an NFL player. Last I checked it was 2.5 years, may have changed. That's 7 million over a career. Over a 50 year career, which most of us work, that's about 116. Clearly upper middle class, but not rich.

Many athletes leave the game and work labor jobs like the rest of us.

Not saying they didn't have a front loaded ahead start and also not saying they don't have an upper middle class average. All I am saying is..the owners are your real enemy. We have more in common with the players than we do with the owners. The players are not your enemy.

[–] Shenanigore@lemm.ee 1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Dude...Travis Kelce owned most of Cholula at one point.