your thoughts on gareth bale and money in sport?

[shootthebandit]

I know the news is a bit old now but real madrid have signed gareth bale from tottenham hotspur for a cool £86 million (roughly $130million). Its to date the highest fee that anyone has ever payed for a player and to me its rediculous. Teams have all this money to spend on players yet admission fees are at a record high and prices for shirts and merchandise is equally as bad

It just seems to me that sport is now too corporate for its own good. Its all well and good pumping some money into the game to improve the quality of the sport but when theres just obscene amounts of cash being thrown around for ONE player its just too far and the fans are the ones who are forgotten and the share holders are the ones who get priority. I suppose we could say the same about movies and games etc but nowhere near this extent. If a movie or game made £86 million profit it would be a success (depending on budget of course) but for one football player its madness

I dont follow american football (NFL) but im pretty sure you guys pump even more money into the sport than soccer does?

Anyway what are your thoughts on this. Do you think sport has gone to far at the expense of the fans or is this a good thing in the long run?

Edit: bearing in mind £86 million can buy you a brand new state of the art fighter jet

 

[Marter]

If the fans weren't perfectly happy shelling out absurd amounts of money, then the teams would stop charging absurd amounts of money for tickets, merchandise, parking, etc. And then the players wouldn't be signing for millions upon millions of dollars. But because the fans continue to pay, the teams continue to make insane amounts of money back and can put that money into the team and the players.

 

[Queen Michael]

That's just stupid. You don't deserve that much money for playing soccer.

 

[Vegosiux]

If the fans weren't perfectly happy shelling out absurd amounts of money, then the teams would stop charging absurd amounts of money for tickets, merchandise, parking, etc. And then the players wouldn't be signing for millions upon millions of dollars. But because the fans continue to pay, the teams continue to make insane amounts of money back and can put that money into the team and the players.

Making mad amounts of money, I wouldn't know....

http://www.theguardian.com/football/2013/apr/18/premier-league-finances-club-by-club
http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/european/pain-in-spain-la-liga-in-financial-turmoil-8721595.html

Most Premier League clubs, for example, seem to be in the red. La Liga doesn't seem to be doing that well financially, either (the fact that it's dominated by two clubs doesn't help, since that means - less competitive and interesting that way). I'm not even getting into Serie A, since there's always one match-fixing scandal or the other going on in Italian football...

 

[SckizoBoy]

You know what his pay-packet is?

Any money it's something horrendous like £300000 a week... *rolls eyes*

Hell, I think Gareth Bale is now, by himself, more expensive than Swansea's entire freakin' squad!! Thing is, it's only going to get worse once the new 'sensation' in football does the rounds... :/

So, European football fans, whendja think the £100m mark is going to be broken?! *sigh*

That's more than the club I support pays to its players each year, gets in gate receipts in a season and TV revenue put together, FFS!

 

[shootthebandit]

That's just stupid. You don't deserve that much money for playing soccer.

i agree but you are forgetting that is not his money its the money the club get for him, having said that his wages are going to be astronomical. to be perfectly honest NOBODY deserves this amount of money. i dont care if you are mother teresa or ghandi you still dont deserve the amount of money these guys get.

following stats are from April 2012:
-Average Premier League wages have reached £22,353 a week ? before lucrative bonuses ? or £1.16million a year.
-Average Championship earnings are £4,059 a week (£211,068 a year), less than a fifth of players one division above.
-In the bottom division, League Two, their weekly pay of £747 is not much more than the national average.
-League Two earnings are also 30 times smaller than those in the Premier League.
- Wayne Rooney, who receives £250,000 a week

a average championship wage seems reasonable as they have a very short career but even then its still a lot

 

[shootthebandit]

You know what his pay-packet is?

Any money it's something horrendous like £300000 a week... *rolls eyes*

Hell, I think Gareth Bale is now, by himself, more expensive than Swansea's entire freakin' squad!! Thing is, it's only going to get worse once the new 'sensation' in football does the rounds... :/

So, European football fans, whendja think the £100m mark is going to be broken?! *sigh*

That's more than the club I support pays to its players each year, gets in gate receipts in a season and TV revenue put together, FFS!

rooney is 200k a week so i would assume he may be on even more. i dont think you are far off

I think someone might try and poach messi, xavi or inesta for a cool 100 million (or more) but only a club like man city or PSG would afford them (if they actually decided to go which is unlikely). they'd have to offer a rediculous wage 300k+ a week to make them leave barca

 

[Total LOLige]

You know what his pay-packet is?

Any money it's something horrendous like £300000 a week... *rolls eyes*

Hell, I think Gareth Bale is now, by himself, more expensive than Swansea's entire freakin' squad!! Thing is, it's only going to get worse once the new 'sensation' in football does the rounds... :/

So, European football fans, whendja think the £100m mark is going to be broken?! *sigh*

That's more than the club I support pays to its players each year, gets in gate receipts in a season and TV revenue put together, FFS!

rooney is 200k a week so i would assume he may be on even more. i dont think you are far off

I think someone might try and poach messi, xavi or inesta for a cool 100 million (or more) but only a club like man city or PSG would afford them (if they actually decided to go which is unlikely). they'd have to offer a rediculous wage 300k+ a week to make them leave barca

Someone might go in for Messi using the big bucks but not Xavi(33yrs) or Iniesta(29yrs) they're too old.

OT: I agree, the transfer fees and wages are ridiculous. This is what happens when billionaires get bored they buy a football club and play real life football manager. The MLS has a wage cap although it is still pretty high and weird.

 

[V TheSystem V]

It's disgusting, end of story.

Rugby players do a lot more, get injured a lot more, and are paid barely anything in comparison. Do you see football players cutting their leg and staying on the pitch? Not really.

 

[tomtom94]

Fun fact: Gareth Bale earns less than Lionel Messi.

Even more fun fact: Last I checked, Lionel Messi doesn't even come close to the wages of a man recently on the end of a record ban in baseball (Alex Rodriguez).

Conclusions: Well, there are several.

For one thing, the Premier League and La Liga are artificially inflated in a bubble that seems to carry on inflating well past the point of surface tension. This is due to many factors. One is the absurd amounts of TV money that is paid to individual teams for competing; this is because these top leagues have a HUGE global appeal. Another is outside investment from rich individuals looking to compete amongst themselves (Man City and Chelsea especially).

For another thing, this sort of thing goes on in football despite FIFA being corrupt (completely and utterly, Putin-esque corrupt) and taking huge amounts of money out of the sport.

Yet for another thing, this is not limited just to football. It's all professional sports. Check out the amounts of money made by the NBA, NFL, NHL, NWA, by F1's parent holding company, and all the rest of it. Half the teams in F1 are struggling financially because there isn't enough money coming down from the top. Yet teams are prepared to pay huge salaries - because otherwise they lose their prize money which is the only thing keeping them going in the first place.

So, conclusions.

The simple conclusion is that professional sports are making too much money for their own good, and simultaneously we see that teams are on the brink of financial extinction and yet too much money is being hoarded at a top level. It's a bizarre paradox.

The less obvious, and more worrying, conclusion is that the world is slipping into habits that I thought we'd outgrown during the recession. Buying things we can't afford. Gambling with huge amounts of money. Most definitively, and most scarily, an emphasis on short-term success over long-term stability.

Of course, the least obvious conclusion is that people like to hate on Gareth Bale like this is a new thing...

 

[Colour Scientist]

It's disgusting, end of story.

Rugby players do a lot more, get injured a lot more, and are paid barely anything in comparison. Do you see football players cutting their leg and staying on the pitch? Not really.

Rugby players, depending on who they play for and who they are, can actually be paid relatively well. Maybe not as much as the top class of football players but they aren't exactly on minimum wage.

Also, football/soccer is a much more popular sport on a global scale, more popularity means more viewers, more people travelling to games, more advertising, more merch, more money, etc...

 

[Jamash]

It's disgusting, end of story.

Rugby players do a lot more, get injured a lot more, and are paid barely anything in comparison. Do you see football players cutting their leg and staying on the pitch? Not really.

Rugby and Football aren't blood sports, so there's no reason for there to be any correlation between injuries/damage inflicted and player's wages, although if you do want to view it in those terms, more players have died playing Football than playing Rugby, so perhaps it is right they get paid more for participating in a statistically deadlier sport.

If Rugby was more popular and commanded the viewing figures that Football does, along with the sponsorship and advertising revenue that accompany high viewing figures, then Rugby players would be more valuable.

 

[shootthebandit]

Fun fact: Gareth Bale earns less than Lionel Messi.

Even more fun fact: Last I checked, Lionel Messi doesn't even come close to the wages of a man recently on the end of a record ban in baseball (Alex Rodriguez).

Conclusions: Well, there are several.

For one thing, the Premier League and La Liga are artificially inflated in a bubble that seems to carry on inflating well past the point of surface tension. This is due to many factors. One is the absurd amounts of TV money that is paid to individual teams for competing; this is because these top leagues have a HUGE global appeal. Another is outside investment from rich individuals looking to compete amongst themselves (Man City and Chelsea especially).

For another thing, this sort of thing goes on in football despite FIFA being corrupt (completely and utterly, Putin-esque corrupt) and taking huge amounts of money out of the sport.

Yet for another thing, this is not limited just to football. It's all professional sports. Check out the amounts of money made by the NBA, NFL, NHL, NWA, by F1's parent holding company, and all the rest of it. Half the teams in F1 are struggling financially because there isn't enough money coming down from the top. Yet teams are prepared to pay huge salaries - because otherwise they lose their prize money which is the only thing keeping them going in the first place.

So, conclusions.

The simple conclusion is that professional sports are making too much money for their own good, and simultaneously we see that teams are on the brink of financial extinction and yet too much money is being hoarded at a top level. It's a bizarre paradox.

The less obvious, and more worrying, conclusion is that the world is slipping into habits that I thought we'd outgrown during the recession. Buying things we can't afford. Gambling with huge amounts of money. Most definitively, and most scarily, an emphasis on short-term success over long-term stability.

Of course, the least obvious conclusion is that people like to hate on Gareth Bale like this is a new thing...

I dont really follow american sports so i cant really comment but i had a feeling there would be a lot more money than the premier league/la liga and you have backed that up. I can understand F1 being so expensive to build the highest performance cars that dont just go in a straight line is going to be expensive however paying money for a person doesnt make as much sense

The money problem is huge and the team i support (glasgow rangers) suffered because of massive over spending. We became a very big fish in the very small pond of scottish football and it ultimately led to our decline. http://m.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-14880473

I can see this happening to a lot of clubs who are spending for than they can afford. I think football and sport in general is a hyperbole for the recession in general

 

[DyqstARD]

Well I support Spurs so I'm not hated by the local lads, but I don't really care for all the money that rolls around in this sort of business.

 

[Albino Boo]

If the fans weren't perfectly happy shelling out absurd amounts of money, then the teams would stop charging absurd amounts of money for tickets, merchandise, parking, etc. And then the players wouldn't be signing for millions upon millions of dollars. But because the fans continue to pay, the teams continue to make insane amounts of money back and can put that money into the team and the players.

They don't make insane amounts of money, most premiership clubs make a loss. Last years total loss for the premier league was £361 million. They are largely financed by the deep pockets of their owners.

The money problem is huge and the team i support (glasgow rangers) suffered because of massive over spending. We became a very big fish in the very small pond of scottish football and it ultimately led to our decline. http://m.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-14880473

I can see this happening to a lot of clubs who are spending for than they can afford. I think football and sport in general is a hyperbole for the recession in general

The big problem that Rangers had was they got caught trying to rip of the taxman. If they they hadn't gone into one of these offshore "loan" deals to dodge tax on players wages they would have remained at the top of the SPL. I think the SPL made a big mistake is sending Rangers down because Celtic are pretty much going to win every year until Rangers get back into the SPL. When they get back McCoist is going to slap about Celtic until they beg for mercy.

 

[takemeouttotheblack]

There are two things here; the transfer fee and the wages. The transfer fee I have somewhat less of a problem about; Madrid believe Bale is an asset that will be worth the transfer fee, be that through ensuring success in La Liga, Europe and the like, shirt sales and merchandising, or even in a resale value in a couple of years. If they're wrong, then Spurs are laughing their way to the bank, and if they're right, then it makes good business sense.

The wages I do have a much greater problem with. Given Spain's current financial crisis, and the massive youth unemployment, it seems rather insensitive to agree to a wage packet so unbelievably high when half the youth population in Spain is unemployed. While I accept that players are looking to secure their long term future given the uncertain length of a playing career, I also think there's a limit, although I don't blame him for taking it.

Overall, I think part of the problem is the fact that however much we are disgusted by how much celebrities and athletes are paid, we still consume their products, be it internet searches, buying tickets and the like. Even doing things like only watching in the pub or only going on Iplayer is problematic, because it still gives the people who pay for the service (i.e. publicans and the BBC) data that shows we approve. I'm the first to admit I'm guilty of this.

All in all, I don't see it changing any time soon, because a wage cap would either be ineffective or completely destroy whatever league it affected, and people are still going to go and watch the football as long as it's on. That said, the more they get paid, the more money moves around and the healthier the economy is.

 

[Andy Shandy]

When they get back McCoist is going to slap about Celtic until they beg for mercy.

That's highly debatable. McCoist doesn't seem all that great a manager, in all honesty. Lennon's no Sir Alex either, but as much as it pains me to admit it, I think he's the better manager. And doesn't have a boardroom full of arguing, poop-flinging monkeys behind him, either.

This is coming from a Dundee United fan, by the way. Jackie Mac all the way!

Anyway, back to the topic at hand...

It's kind of insane to think about in all honesty. In three weeks, he earns more than my club's current transfer record. But with all the money in football's big league through various means, I can't call it unfair. I definitely don't think it can last though. There will be a limit. And honestly, I hope it comes sooner rather than later.

Also, because it's relevant.

 

[Hero of Lime]

Not a big fan of crazy wages for celebrities and sports stars. I really don't mind that some people can be super rich, but there is making a lot of money by running a business, performing well in a movie or sport, and then there is overkill. Baseball contracts here in the U.S. are ridiculous if I'm being modest, as are Basketball and American Football contracts.

Lots of players do set up their own charities and give away lots of money, but I feel like these leagues could spend the money on different things. At the end of the day, the owners of the teams are willing to shell out the money, they see it fit to pay these guys lots of money. I don't understand it, but the leagues haven't crumbled from these costs yet, so it may not matter any way.

 

[shootthebandit]

When they get back McCoist is going to slap about Celtic until they beg for mercy.

That's highly debatable. McCoist doesn't seem all that great a manager, in all honesty. Lennon's no Sir Alex either, but as much as it pains me to admit it, I think he's the better manager. And doesn't have a boardroom full of arguing, poop-flinging monkeys behind him, either.

This is coming from a Dundee United fan, by the way. Jackie Mac all the way!

Anyway, back to the topic at hand...

It's kind of insane to think about in all honesty. In three weeks, he earns more than my club's current transfer record. But with all the money in football's big league through various means, I can't call it unfair. I definitely don't think it can last though. There will be a limit. And honestly, I hope it comes sooner rather than later.

Also, because it's relevant.

As a rangers fan i whole heartedly agree. As much as i hate lennon i still think he is the better of the two managers with a better side. Granted he is far from being a good manager and the team isnt great but they are punching a little above thier weight in europe which has to be commended. Sure coisty is a good manager when we are playing part time clubs but when we get to the top flight we will be trailing behind celtic and it will take us a while to get our footing in europe again

If anything the fact that celtic beat barcalona kinda makes the point that throwing money at it isnt going to give you a win everytime. Celtic are hardly the poorest club but compared to la liga and the premier league they have peanuts. Yet with a lot of luck and a half decent side they beat barcalona.

OT: that whole alaska thing really puts it into perspective. Sure we'd all love to have the wages hes on but given the option of playing for rangers on say 4000 a week (which is still a lot) or playing for man city or real for 100,000 a week id choose rangers any day of the week because i have pride in the club and id still be earning a fortune. Matt le tissier is a perfect example of howfootballers should be. He played his whole career at southhampton (a relatively good team) and was offered contracts from spurs and chelsea which he rejected because he had loyalty towards the club

 

[TheKangaroos]

That's just stupid. You don't deserve that much money for playing soccer.

This is the first comment of yours that I haven't agreed with. Surely what a player deserves is based on what people are willing to pay to see him play. Isn't the situation with all sports one that pays players exactly what they deserve, as the people who's money is being spent obviously deem whoever is being paid, worthy of the amount of money in question?