Are We the Problem? The Hidden Economics Behind Work, Wages, & Athlete Salaries

This may be an uncomfortable question for some, but I wanted to put it out there!

Don't get me wrong, I love sports, what they stand for, playing, and watching them... but something feels off with the bigger picture.

If we are exhausted, overworked, underpaid, and frustrated with wage stagnation… why do we willingly fund billion-dollar sports ecosystems? WE say corporations exploit labor. WE say executive pay is outrageous. WE say wages haven’t kept pace with inflation. Yet....WE fill stadiums, buy season tickets, purchase $200 jerseys, stream games, subscribe to sports packages, fund NIL collectives, donate to collegiate athletic departments, and fuel advertising revenue that drives up broadcast contracts.

Let’s Talk Numbers! The average NFL player salary exceeds $2 million per year. Top coaches in college football earn $8 to 12 million annually. Major athletic departments generate hundreds of millions in revenue. Media rights deals are worth billions. That money does not come from thin air, so where does it come from???

It comes from: Ticket sales. TV subscriptions. Streaming packages. Merch. Sponsorship purchases University tuition and donor funding.

In other words… WE are paying these salaries. Then having the audacity to complain about our personal work wages while wearing a $200 jersey, purchasing that $20 hot dog at the game, and sitting in the nosebleed section that we "got a steal on" at only $65 per ticket!

The Cultural Paradox!!! We claim we value teachers, nurses, social workers, and small business owners.

But economically? We reward entertainment at scale.

We complain about: Excessive work hours, insufficient wages, corporate greed, and economic inequality. But in the same breath WE enthusiastically fund industries where single contracts exceed the lifetime earnings of thousands of families!!!

The market doesn’t respond to outrage. It responds to demand. And demand is us, WE PEOPLE!

If we redirected even a fraction of discretionary spending toward local businesses, community development, education, small businesses, start-ups, health and wellness, would our economic landscape look different? Or are we complicit in the very wage and workload systems we criticize?

From a behavioral science perspective. WE reward spectacle over sustainability. WE respond to tribal identity (teams) over systemic change. WE choose short-term emotional highs over long-term structural shifts. Athletes are talented and deserving; sports are not the villain. It's the sports industry that has targeted us, the population, and taken sports salaries to this unimaginable level. WE have participated with our collective spending behaviors, which demonstrate our belief in the sporting system, shape economic priorities, and helped it reach where it is now.

Markets follow money. Money follows attention. Attention follows emotion.

The issue isn’t that athletes are paid too much. It’s that we say one thing about fairness and value, then fund something different. Until consumer behavior changes, compensation structures won’t. WE don’t just live in the system. WE reinforce it.

So here’s my question to you: If wages feel unfair, work feels excessive, and life feels imbalanced…Are we willing to change where we spend our money? Or is it easier to blame “the system” while keeping our season tickets? Where do you think responsibility actually lies? Corporations, universities, leagues… or consumers?

Food for discussion!

~Gig