Thursday Thoughts: How much is too much?

By Leon Stevens on September 12, 2024

Dallas Cowboys quarterback, Dak Prescott, just signed a 4-year deal worth...[drumroll]
Two hundred and forty million. That's $60 million/year. To throw a football.

Granted, an athlete's earning time frame is shorter than most peop—Wait. $60 million a year is still ridiculous, isn't it?

According to stats, 0.1% of earners make over a million dollars a year. So making over 60 puts Mr. Prescott into the top 0.0001%—Okay, I didn't do that math. But he's up there.

Cristiano Ronaldo is the highest-paid soccer player in the world with his $75 million-per-year contract. Here are some others:

Shohei Ohtani, RHP/DH, Los Angeles Dodgers: 10 years, $700 million ($70 million per year).

Jayson Tatum, PF, Boston Celtics: Five years, $313.9 million ($62.79 million per year)

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing: Five years, $275 million ($55 million per year)

Then there is poor Leon Draisaitl, C, Edmonton Oilers: who only makes 14 million. (Eight years, $112 million)

Before you bring out the tax argument since these sports stars do pay into the federal and regional coffers, which is a valid argument, on average, the tax rate is around 40 percent. I'll wait till you do the math.

Done? Now do you feel sorry for them for pulling in 8 to 45 million a year?

Does this include endorsements?

It does not. Ronaldo gets an extra $35 million/year from endorsements. In 2016 he signed a lifetime deal with Nike worth 1 billion dollars.

Basketball star Lebron James who makes a paltry $34 million/year also inked a 1 billion Nike deal. Whew. I was getting worried about his financial situation.

So, I'm I just complaining because I didn't have the chance to get a piece of the athletic salary pie? Or am I justified in thinking that there must be a better way to spend the money that's out there?

-Leon

Leon Stevens is a multi-genre author, composer, guitarist, songwriter, and an artist, with a Bachelor of Music and Education. He published his first book of poetry, Lines by Leon: Poems, Prose, and Pictures in January 2020, followed by a book of original classical guitar compositions, Journeys, and a short story collection of science fiction/post-apocalyptic tales called The Knot at the End of the Rope and Other Short Stories. His newest publications are the novella trilogy, The View from Here, which is a continuation of one of his short stories, and a new collection of poetry titled, A Wonder of Words.

My new book page: http://books.linesbyleon.com/