The Puzzling Economics of Sports

In an article entitled "The Puzzling Economics of Sports'' by Allen R. Sanderson, he discusses how the public critcizes athletes for making a lot of money although they hardly make as much as movie stars, singers, and authors. It can come down to the law of supply and demand. People seem to prefer paying the bigger price to go to entertainment places, but won't spend the cheaper price on sports tickets. The public demands more for their money and the stars salaries come from the people who pay. There is a large supply of forms of entertainment: movies, tv shows, concerts. Sports tickets would be better off because they are set for inflation. Its amazing how the median salary for baseball players is 800,000 a year, while the cast members of Friends take home a milllion dollars per episode. People also complain about the team members driving up the cost of the game ticket, but they don't complain about the ticket prices at the movies which go up because of the stars of the movie. Also, the fans take into consideration how much parking, food expenses, and souvineers are going to cost when going to a sports event, but very little is thought about when people go to the movies. And at movie theatres, the prices have become rediculous. The fans are demanding more amenities in the ballparks which limits its own supply and ends competition. I completely agree with Mr. Sanderson. I think that athletes are looked upon as the bad guys when it comes to their salaries. Sometimes its rediculous how much money some athletes earn, but usually its minute compared to some actors like Ray Romano who makes about $50 million a year for only a half hour, once a week, for a couple of months. I also agree with the his last quote, "With apologies to F. Scott Fitzgerald and Ernest Hemingway, why is it that sports are apparently so different from the rest of society and the economy?" I really do not understand why. Another quote of Mr. Sanderson's that I liked was, "At least we ought to be consistant in our errors and hostility." By this he means that if we criticize one group, we should criticize others as well for pretty much the same reason. Like in this case, money. Another thing that Mr. Sanderson stressed was how people critcize athletes for using performance enhancers, but don't criticize celebrities for using botox and cosmetic surgery. It's sad that this takes place in our country. This article does mention the law of supply and demand. Overall I say we, the people, should criticize all groups when necessary and then everything will be fine. I know it wont happen because life is unfair, and Im gonna have to try and accept it when it goes against me.