Are Baseball Players Paid Too Much?

Like any other professional athlete, baseball players are paid according to their supposed worth to an organization. The only reason team owners can afford to pay baseball players the exorbitant salaries they are given is because those players generate huge amounts of revenue.

Take ticket sales, for instance. The number of tickets a given team sells each year depends mainly on three factors: 1) local fan support of the team, 2) how well the team does, and 3) the number of big-name players on the team. Some fans will go watch the team no matter what out of loyalty, some will go more often if the team is winning, and some go to see the main attractions perform: the superstars. Not only do star players usually help teams have a better chance of winning, they also attract fans that otherwise might not come to the games. All of this is money in the owner's pockets.

Another way that players create income for a team is through merchandise sales. For every Albert Pujols or Ichiro Suzuki jersey sold, the owners profit. Without any star players, a team will have trouble selling many jerseys or other merchandise linked to the player. In addition, players that are household names will increase the recognition of the teams they play for as well, which means that the overall popularity of that team's merchandise will go up.

The Yankees organization is the perfect example of how players' salaries get so inflated. George Steinbrenner, the Yankees owner, knows that New York is a huge market full of loyal fans. As long as he puts a decent product on the field, plenty of fans will show up to the games, many more will watch on TV, and he will rake in a ton of revenue. So, every year he goes out and lures some of the best free agents to New York with generous contracts.

Of course, the competition of free agency, coupled with the lack of a salary cap, drives the price of many players higher than they are actually worth. To continue to rake in the profits, owners are forced to build newer and nicer stadiums designed to squeeze more money from the fans. Or, they just raise ticket and concession prices. And as long as baseball fans are willing to pay the asking price, owners will continue to make money and baseball players will keep getting the big bucks.