Salary check = Reality check

I've ranted before in other threads but I'm with you on this one.

Specifically I bitched out Revis as well as team owners about greed screwing over fans (e.g. PSLs, $15 for 2 waters and popcorn today, etc). I used the LeonW argument about him not accepting 10 Mil over 4 years which equates to me working 97 years at my current salary.

Prices are up, taxes are up, tuition is up...and salaries are stagnant. I'm going on 2 years with no raise and now our "beloved" gov Krispy kreme is fucking with public salaries which is going to ruin my wife's HUGE SALARY of $60k a year as a teacher of 11 years. Sorry - no sympathy to players crying about 10 million a year etc.

As I stated in another thread regarding the injury to LW, here's a sledgehammer, break my leg, then hand me my 10 million. For that kind of cash I think I can deal with using a cane...

 

Agreed to some extent. You get paid for who you are. Athletes like Revis are very rare to find so you pay them an amount equivalent to their values. Similarly, a brain surgeon can not be found at the corner of every street, hence they make around a mil a year plus business income. Revis' demand of $16+ mils a year is unreal, but I would be crying if I was offered $10mil a yr if I was him.

 

so, someone shouldn't earn fair money within their industry because other industries are having financial problems or Americans in general are struggling with unemployment? hate to break this to you, that is just fucking stupid and there is no logical correlation between the two.

should I not get a raise simply because someone else lost their job? of course I should if I deserve it based on performance and my company can afford it, specifically because they can afford it based on the profit driven by my performance.

what a football player should make has nothing to do with the how much some office worker is making in a completely unrelated field and I am shocked at the zeal in which some people are proud to display the fact that they don't posses enough logic to grasp that.

the athletes aren't the one's that are immature if you are so jealous that you think they shouldn't make what they deserve based on the specifics of their industry simply because your industry can't afford its employees the same.

just dumb. how can you possibly think this thread even remotely resembled anything intelligent?

the issue with these players isn't that the Jets can't afford it or the NFL can't afford it.

 

I think you're missing the point. We're not saying they shouldn't get fair value. None of us expect Revis or any other superstar player (Mangold, Harris, et al) to accept a veteran's minimum salary. What we as fans want is for them to be reasonable with the requests. Does 24 deserve a big payday? Yes. However, does he need to make more than Aso whose contract was an aberration? I don't think so.

If I'm making $50k, and someone with the same skill set is making $100k at a crappy company with worse benefits/location/etc., and I'm offered $75k; well the benefits of working with my current company may outweigh the benefits of working for the company paying $100k, So in that respect I think I'll take the $75k because my boss puts me in a position to succeed and I don't have to worry about this company closing, better vacation days, etc etc..

Its a matter of how you look at it.

 

I got the point, but the problem is when you don't make comparable money you aren't qualified to determine what is reasonable, you and I would be thrilled for just a couple of million, so we don't appreciate the big difference between $10-16 million.

the fan is completely unqualified to tell Revis how much he should be happy to make and settle for.

 

The lockout/workstoppage/whatever is going to go over like a ton of bricks next year in this economic environment. Billionaires fighting with millionaires over profits and salaries that would make 99.99% of us jump for joy, while a large number of people have trouble putting food on the table and keeping a roof over their heads.

I have no clue what the NFL will do to try to recover from that but it isn't going to be easy.

 

I'm all for athletes bitching about not getting paid. Their entire lifetime earning potential is one injury away from being zip, but what none of them seem to acknowledge is that the goal should be building a successful team. They can ALL get multi multi millions of dollars, but they need to prioritize the long term success of the team.

 

they won't have to do anything because we will all come back and watch, because the majority of people don't give a shit if the owners make a bit less money, we only care that there are games on Sunday again.

 

Jetblue I think your right on when it comes to people comparing football players to teachers but the comments by these guys is what gets people pissed. If I made a million dollars even if I was under paid I wouldn't say I need to feed my family. That being said they need to pay Revis a fair salary if they promised to fix his contract. The guy is the best in the league and should be paid near that.

 

none of these guys are behaving like Latrell Sprewell.

but even so, that is why we are unqualified to judge this type of scenario. just because we would be happy with $1 million doesn't mean someone who is making $1 million but deserves $2 million should be. ultimately that is exactly what gets projected onto athletes and it is illogical at best, outright jealous whining at worst.

 

Bottom line for me is this, if I was in a position to be assured that everyone I cared about would be taken care of forever I wouldn't give a damn about what the rest of the economy looked like. I would be fighting for every last dollar I could get and anyone who says they wouldn't do the same is full of shit. So they are gonna have a few fans who are bitter that they need to work a 9-5 and worry about their bills pissed at them for a few months. They don't care and I wouldn't either in their situation.

 

Take away Revis saying he has to put food on the table...Im afraid Jetblue is dead on here. A little harsh for my taste but the basic premise is accurate.

I do not see any NFL team struggling financially. The NFL, like some other businesses, is thriving and has nothing to do with the poor economy. Now that makes no difference because they will use it during the bargaining for a new contract.

These guys are fighting for what they feel they deserve and believe it not...teams are paying them. The Jets have different plans on how to handle all of these guys and I for one have no clue what their plans are.

 

I think it's a mistake to so "oh, the NFL isn't hurt by the economy."

Sure it is. A slew of Jets employees had to take an unpaid vacation last year. There isn't a labor contract in place. Woody can't sell PSL's. Almost every single team is entrenched in "F U" negotiations with their restricted free agents right now. Bucs and Penn, Patriots and Mankins, Chargers and McNeill/Jackson, Broncos and Dumervil, etc., etc., etc.

If there is data to show that the NFL is earning at a higher rate than it has for the last decade, I'd like to see it. Otherwise, it seems people are just saying "they've got billions, so they're not affected."

 

One of the largest obstacles in negotiations is the owners' unwillingness to show any data on what exactly they're pulling in, financially. I haven't taken sides on the CBA issue, but I've always been completely dumbfounded as to how the NFL expects to convince the Player's Union they're negotiating fairly without stating how much they are making.

 

EXACTLY.

But that's exactly where the problem comes from for people like me. It's things like PSLs. Outrageous parking. Selling team-branded wine?

To put it more in perspective, the reason the Yankees can pay Alex Rodriguez, Derek Jeter, Mark Teixeira, CC Sabathia, AJ Burnett, Jorge Posada, Mariano Rivera, on top of everyone else, is because they have a nice new home that the average fan like myself, who in the 80s sat in the Bob Uecker (sp?) seats with 15-20,000 other fans can't afford to take their families to anymore. Fans get priced out of games, but are expected to (and do) purchase memorabilia, watch on tv, and fund all the other revenue streams for these teams.

That's been all well and good for the past 20 or so years while the economy got stronger and salaries ballooned under an economy that could afford it. What happens when people finally say "Enough" though? I'm getting there myself, and I know from my own experience that I'm not the only person who feels like that.
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FTR, I'm not on the owners' side either. This isn't simply about taking from players to give "back" to owners. This is about sports giving back to the fans that make them. I know it won't go backward, but it needs to slow it's aggressive pace.

 

I would like to see the data that shows some teams are losing or even breaking even or better yet...just making a little bit.

The Jet employees that had to take unpaid vacations is pretty laughable. I mean..come on. Companies are losing money and still paying for vacations but the Jets cant make their nut?

Im all for team owners making a ton of money. You want to talk hockey, basketball or baseball owners struggling..Im all in. NFL?

 

The other 3 major sports are feeling the heat already...in the NFL it might happen soon..just not yet.

As far as the Yankees are concerned, its their YES channel that kills other teams from competing with them. While I totally agree, the stadium is making money more than others, that guaranteed money from YES is a killer...unless you are a Yankee fan...Im ok with it..lol.

 

A lot of it is jealousy, no doubt about it, but what players (and this is all players) have to realise is that their incredbly high salaries are dependent on the continuing goodwill of the fans and that they need to keep the fans sweet.

When the fans are hurting financially and they see players bitching about how they are being disrespected for only being offered $X million dollars instead of X+2 million it makes the fans think "you greedy c**t" and it turns them off the players and the game

I dont blame the players for trying to get what they can (who wouldn't) but for me its the way that they go about it and the statements that get made that gets on your jebs.

 

On checking through the thread it seems there are two main points of view. Market led and social led

Market led arguement. NFL is a successful business that continues to make money unlike the rest of the economy at this point so it can continue to seek over inflated profits as a result of TV deals, merchandising PSLs seat sales etc and as a result the players who are at the top of their game should be paid high values.

Unfortunately in my opinion this view is unrealistic as the NFL is reliant on the wider economy for it's profits and if people can't afford to go to games buy merchandise, follow on TV then market values will fall

I do believe the view that market sets the value is a falacy which when you consider how the financial meltdown started it may well be coming in entertainment. Also consider how many NFL owners have their money from something real ie products that are made and sold for a value and not linked to fantasy style money market investments

Second view of social led appeals to me. I have strongly felt that following a team is a community concept and fosters a sense of belonging. It may seem strange me saying this as I've never lived in the US but the Jets are my team, my sense of belonging. In this respect the fans are as important as the players and owners because without us who are they. In my opinion that is why Revis like comments of I need to put food on the table are ludicrous and alienating.

Sadly the NFL has become commodified entertainment and out of touch with it's roots.

Bring on the lockout and perhaps a little sober reflection. It would be great to a situation where current cap and salary values get shredded.

Imagine a cap at $40-50 Million. Big drop offs all round but where are the players going to go?

If this where to be the case I'd want to see a proportionate reduction in costs assocaited with going to a game, following a team.

A littel ranty I know but just my two pence