Overpaid? Not really!
I will never again refer to athletes as being overpaid. Not after Rush Limbaugh signed a contract for more money than any pro athlete has ever gotten for playing his or her sport. The guy in the picture above just got $400 million to run off at the mouth five days a week for eight more years. Now I'm no fan if his, but if he generates the revenue, he get should get compensated accordingly. I'm just waiting for people to say the same thing about pro athletes. If Rush getting $400 million is a result of performance and market forces, then isn't Gilbert Arenas' soon to be signed $111 million contract the same thing? Of course it is, but it's easier to complain about professional athletes than it is radio talk show hosts or even Hollywood actors and actresses. Just remember that all of these people get paid based on how much revenue they help generate, and that if they all agreed to work for $100 grand that the owners would take all the extra money they had and put it in their own pockets.
Farewell, Seattle Sonics:
Now if you want a real travesty, look to Seattle, where the Sonics are being moved to Oklahoma City. What happened here is that Sonics owner Clay Bennett was able to use the 'I need a new stadium' trick to move the team to they city he always wanted to have it in. Who's to blame here? Bennett and David Stern would tell you that it's the city politicians fault, because they refused to pony up for a new arena, but in reality it's Bennett who should get the finger fromeveryone in Seattle. E-mails have revealed that Bennet and his group never had any intention of keeping the team in Seattle when they bought it, and were looking for any way to get out of there and move the team to OKC. The whole 'new stadium' thing is the biggest con in all of sports. There have been numerous reports from all political sides that have revealed stadium deals to be a net loser for the city that agrees to them, or a push at best. When an owner wants a new buildinng it's because he wants to make more money, period. Luxury boxes, personal seat licensces (a huge ripoff), a rent free building, and in some instances a piece of the action from other events held in the building; that's what the real prizes are. How would you feel if Target wanted to come to your neighborhood but wanted you to pay for the building they were going to occupy? You should feel the same way about sports stadiums.
Congrats to Venus and Serena
Can somebody give them their due instead of crying about Maria Sharapova, Andy Roddick,and James Blake all getting shown the door early? People are always crying about Americans sucking at tennis now but when either of these two does it big, they get no love at all. I know a lot of the purists out there wish that they would be about tennis 24/7 (to be fair, the same criticisms were made about Anna Kournikova and are made about Sharapova and Roddick today), but is it so bad that they try to have lives in addition to tennis careers? And do you have to get all huffy and puffy when they show up after playing fewer events than other people and win big touurnaments? Of course you don't. Please, give these girls their respect and stop hatin!
only in america can a racisit and drug addict get 400 million dollars for talking
Wipe me down cuzz IM ON
Its all About that Money. Cant Hate on him though he getting his.
I will fire him
Why is blacksportsonline supporting rush limbaugh?
You're comparing apples to oranges. When an athlete gets millions of dollars it pushes up the ticket prices. People don't have to pay to hear Rush on the radio.
When Rush gets paid, it pushes up ad rates, which ultimately pushes up retail prices for whatever it is they're selling. You may not have to pay an immediate entry fee to listen to Rush, but ultimately you do pay.
Stadiums are actually similar to other large-scale developments for stores/malls/housing in that the developers often get large incentives for building. Do you think Target pays the market rate for land/building/taxes when they open a new store in an area that doesn't have any? Often they receive refunds of some sales taxes that are raised, and I'm sure that's not the only incentive.
Building a stadium is incredibly expensive, and it makes sense that owners would ask for some of the money to come from the municipality that will reap the financial rewards in the form of sales taxes (and in MN, income tax from the players, coaches, and executives). The thing is that we don't usually hear about it for 5 years straight when Target wants to open a superstore.