[Ammi]

Originally Posted by Zee

The difference between footballers, and say actors and pop stars, is that with actors and pop stars - they only earn mega bucks if people like what they are selling. If radio snubs music or cinema snubs film; people don't get to hear it/see it; or if it gets released and people just plain don't care, their careers are ended. Footballers get signed for several year long contracts on insane wages and it doesn't matter if they play like utter crap or get injured and never play a game; they're still earning insane money regardless, and if the club wants to get rid of them they have to pay them off. In other words, it doesn't matter whether the people paying to go see them are pleased with the end product or not, they still get this secure, obscene wage.

I think footballers get the worst of it because they tend to be the flashiest with their money... other athletes tend to be more low profile even if you know they get paid a lot. It's the whole culture that's evolved around football and its wages. WAGS have added to that tension - women who seek out footballers just to be known as their girlfriend and sponge off that lifestyle - it adds to this overall impression that footballers earn too much for doing too little. Tennis is like a pay and play system - they don't get paid for doing training; they get paid for how well they do. I don't know about other sports but I do know about tennis, so it's not fair to lump that in with football.

..yeah I guess all of that makes sense...'back in the day' movie stars would have been signed under contracts although I guess what they do is more 'predictable' in that a footballer can go through a period of not playing well or suffer an injury which prevents him playing..?...music artists were under contract as well, wasn't that part of why George Michael didn't perform for a long time because of a dispute with his record label, he wasn't allowed to..?...I'm not sure how it all works now though..has downloading music changed it all..?...(I still but cds..quant..)...

...hmmm, I'm not sure footballers get the worst of it because they're 'flashy' or because of WAGS...I think what they do/buy is much more scrutinised than others and maybe it's because football is so popular or because the British media do have a bit of a reputation for 'building up' and then 'knocking down'...

..I read something yesterday I think it was about an American cop who was attacked by a group of guys after a rugby match there..and that wasn't really big news but would it have been the same if it was after a football match..?...hmmmmm....