athletes wages/salaries

[ferrari77]

just wondering what you guys think about this, i get tired of hearing people back in Blighty whine about how muh this or that player is making yet no one makes a peep when reese witherspoon who is not that hot gets 15 million a movie and the sopranos guy is trying to pocket a million per episode like the Friends do, for acting, i do drama, i've acted in a few plays, i'm sure tv and movie acting is hard but come on, like they put so much physical effort into it, but no one bats an eye, yet when an athlete signs for what an owner percieves as the athletes market value there is a massive furor. what do you think.

[Raj]

I agree that this is one of the most annoying things in sports. Hearing people whinging about other peoples salaries.
However, there is a reason for it.
Firstly, until recently there was just nowhere near as much money in football as there is know.
Alan Hansen , who was a defender for the bestr club in Europe has stated that when he retired (1990 or 91 I think) he was paid £150K for the year.
Nowadays any liverpool defender would make that in a month if not two to three weeks.

2ndly, football is the one entertainment industry in the UK where people earn these superstar wages.

I believe most TV stars in the UK earn good 6 figure salaries bit are not millionaires. There are exeptions (e.g Rowan Atkinson) but this is generally because of international film success.

Rich british actors tend to be rich because they have been successful in the states.(e.g. Anthony Hopkins).

Therefore, the differential between what British footballers earn and other celebrities earn is enormous & does tend to single them out a bit.