Is it your business?

[Drip]

I've always felt that asking an athlete what he makes or an agent what his client is making, was none of my business. I wouldn't want them to know how little I'm making. The point is, does the public have a right to know such things?

 

[Sea Bass]

Not in the slightest.

 

[Ben_Hecht]

Given the relatively-open public records in this area -- especially re MLB and NFL -- much of this stuff isn't exactly a state secret. It has news value.
Bring. It. On.

 

[JackReacher]

Agreed. I get bitter when I can't find the salaries of certain players.

 

[RickStain]

It's in the sports' best interest to publicize that info because fans want to know. Part of being a pro athlete is submitting to public scrutiny.

 

[mustangj17]

I think part of people not wanting others to know their salary is because they are afraid their peers will find out how little they make. With multi-million dollar contracts, does that matter?

 

[Drip]

It's in the sports' best interest to publicize that info because fans want to know. Part of being a pro athlete is submitting to public scrutiny.

If you are a reporter or a columnist, you too are in the limelight. Does that mean the public needs to know what you are making as well?

 

[RickStain]

It's in the sports' best interest to publicize that info because fans want to know. Part of being a pro athlete is submitting to public scrutiny.

If you are a reporter or a columnist, you too are in the limelight. Does that mean the public needs to know what you are making as well?

Columnist, possibly. Reporter, no.

But if anyone cares, I make $24,440/year at my reporting job.

 

[Michael_ Gee]

Readers want to know. And in sports with salary caps, salary information has a DIRECT bearing on the team's performance and therefore meets every possible definition of news.

 

[Ace]

It's in the sports' best interest to publicize that info because fans want to know. Part of being a pro athlete is submitting to public scrutiny.

True. When we run golf results without listing the earnings, people call and ask for it.

 

[crusoes]

We run a list of public salaries in our paper every year. To say that public officials don't like it is to severely understate things. One AD, one of the mildest-mannered people I've known, yelled at me about it once, to the astonishment of those he worked with.

A bigger paper did the same thing with salaries in state government and the backlash was pretty substantial. And these are public records.

 

[Drip]

Readers want to know. And in sports with salary caps, salary information has a DIRECT bearing on the team's performance and therefore meets every possible definition of news.

Michael, it also bugs me to ask a guy, once he's out of the limelight, how much money he makes. The public, for whatever reason also wants to know that too.

 

[Drip]

We run a list of public salaries in our paper every year. To say that public officials don't like it is to severely understate things. One AD, one of the mildest-mannered people I've known, yelled at me about it once, to the astonishment of those he worked with.

A bigger paper did the same thing with salaries in state government and the backlash was pretty substantial. And these are public records.

Public employees, I can see the need to ask. Athletes aren't public employees.

 

[BTExpress]

Salary determines whether a team will sign a player or if they can sign a player or if they can keep a player or why a player may be holding out.

The last time it wasn't news was perhaps 1975.

 

[Baron Scicluna]

We run a list of public salaries in our paper every year. To say that public officials don't like it is to severely understate things. One AD, one of the mildest-mannered people I've known, yelled at me about it once, to the astonishment of those he worked with.

A bigger paper did the same thing with salaries in state government and the backlash was pretty substantial. And these are public records.

Big difference, though, is that most of those public workers aren't doing their job on TV for the whole world to see.

 

[TheSportsPredictor]

The reason those guys make their ginormous salaries is because of the public's interest in them. So it is the public's business to know how much they make. If there were no public, there would be no interest.

 

[BTExpress]

Not sure you can really go down that road.

The reason Steve Jobs makes his ginormous salary is because of the public's interest in what his company produces. So it is the public's business to know how much he makes. If there were no public, there would be no interest in what his company produces.

"Interest" doesn't really work as a justification.

 

[JackReacher]

It's in the sports' best interest to publicize that info because fans want to know. Part of being a pro athlete is submitting to public scrutiny.

If you are a reporter or a columnist, you too are in the limelight. Does that mean the public needs to know what you are making as well?

Columnist, possibly. Reporter, no.

But if anyone cares, I make $24,440/year at my reporting job.

Some beat reporters are as well known as some columnists.

 

[RickStain]

Being well-known isn't the same as your value to the business being your notoriety.

 

[dooley_womack1]

It's in the sports' best interest to publicize that info because fans want to know. Part of being a pro athlete is submitting to public scrutiny.

If you are a reporter or a columnist, you too are in the limelight. Does that mean the public needs to know what you are making as well?

Columnist, possibly. Reporter, no.

But if anyone cares, I make $24,440/year at my reporting job.

How much for slinging burgers?