Elliot Golan / Roundup
President Barack Obama is in the second year of a four-year, $1.6 million deal. Yankees star Alex Rodriguez just finished his second year of a 10-year, $275 million contract.
The sports world makes money. A lot of money. Between their gargantuan contracts and often equally lucrative endorsement deals, players and coaches are among the highest paid people on the planet.
Complaints and concerns are often heard in the media regarding how much professional athletes and coaches make. People wonder why doctors, lawyers and the president of the Unites States make less. In fact, Obama’s salary is identical to the league minimum salary for Major League Baseball in 2009.
Moreover, in collegiate sports, coaches’ salaries are skyrocketing as well.
Take local favorite USC for example. Head football coach Pete Carroll made $4.4 million last year, which is four times the amount that college president Steven B. Sample receives.
Most seem to have a quick and logical rebuttal for that.
“Pete Carroll makes more money (for USC) than the president will,” said Efrain Martinez, head football coach at Pierce College.
Martinez makes $12,000 a season.
Pierce quarterback Matt Wabby agrees.
“(Carroll) also brings in more revenue than the president could ever dream of in one football season,” Wabby said.
Nonetheless, Martinez understands why these enormous amounts of money are made. He equates these salaries to stock market investments in that a contract, like stock, involves investment, risk and perhaps gain.
And though Martinez identifies the Obama/Rodriguez comparison as “ridiculous,” it doesn’t upset him.
“If there’s an idiot willing to pay that, god bless that idiot,” he said.
Pierce Athletic Director Bob Lofrano is also shocked by some of the salaries in sports.
“They wouldn’t do it if they couldn’t do it,” Lofrano said.
That is the predominant argument in defense of these prices. Lofrano believes fans are the reason.
“Fans come and see players,” Lofrano said. “Sports is such an integral part of the world.”
According to Lofrano, who also works as a Special Assignment Scout for the Chicago Cubs, this is all driven by winning. Fans want to see winning teams. While teams cannot necessarily “buy championships,” having the most talent — and therefore often the highest payroll — can definitely help.
Baseball is often the sport most ridiculed for spending since it is the only of the most popular sports that does not have a salary cap. Between football, basketball and hockey, only baseball does not set a maximum amount of money a team can spend.
In 2009, the New York Yankees’ payroll was $208,097,414. The New York Mets came in next with a payroll of about $60 million less. The Yankees won the championship in 2009. The Pittsburgh Pirates, who won the second least amount of games, had a payroll of approximately $25 million.
Boston Celtics forward Kevin Garnett was the highest paid basketball player in 2009. He made slightly less than the Pirates spent, cashing in at $24.75 million.
Moving beyond their contract details, the most famous athletes enjoy substantial earning through endorsements.
FORTUNE on CNNMoney.com estimated golfer Tiger Woods earned $100 million in endorsement money alone during 2007.
Woods was also in the news recently for being the first athlete to surpass $1 billion in career earnings.
These values don’t seem to be going anywhere but up. The Detroit Lions’ first pick in the 2009 National Football League draft was quarterback Matthew Stafford.
Before ever playing a game as a professional football player, Stafford, 21, signed a six-year, $78 million contract with the Lions.
Lofrano is not surprised by the rising rates for rookie players.
“They may not be worth it, but it’s what the people demand,” he said.
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