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The Roar

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Should athletes' salaries be public knowledge?

Chris Sandow celebrates his try during the round 21 NRL match against the Canterbury Bulldogs. AAP Image/Action Photographics, Renee McKay
Expert
3rd May, 2012
41
1687 Reads

Should the wider public be aware of exactly how much money an athlete earns? It’s an interesting question, and not an easy one to answer.

The topic is somewhat relevant at present due to Parramatta Eels halfback Chris Sandow.

The Eels prized recruit has struggled for form with his new team, after Parramatta lured him away from the South Sydney Rabbitohs on a contract worth a reputed $550k a year.

Due to his salary and performances in 2012, many journalists and fans have labelled Sandow the “bust of the year”. Such has been the perception of him not living up to his contract that last week he was even dropped to Parramatta’s feeder club, Wentworthville.

Personally, I feel the dropping was an over-reaction by Eels coach Stephen Kearney.

There is no doubt that Sandow has yet to replicate the form he showed last year with the Bunnies, but I’m not sure he deserved the embarrassment of being dropped from first grade.

It’s unlikely Sandow would be under the same level of scrutiny from the coach, his teammates, the media and fans if it wasn’t for the massive contract he signed.

The same is true for the Wests Tigers big off-season signing Adam Blair, who has also had the ‘bust’ word associated with him.

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The criticism of Blair has been somewhat over the top. He certainly hasn’t been in outstanding form, but he’s been far from terrible.

The issue is, while he hasn’t been outright dreadful he certainly hasn’t been worth the estimated $500k a year contract he signed.

I’m sure the assessment of Blair’s play would be more balanced and contain less vitriol if people weren’t aware of the money he was earning. I suspect if he was on a ‘mere’ $150k, the comments would be less about how he’s been awful and a dud, and slightly more positive.

I think we’d we’d hear more constructive phrases like “he’s yet to earn his straps”, “he’s taking his time to adjust to his new team” or “he’s been solid rather than spectacular”.

This discussion isn’t confined to rugby league – plenty of athletes are judged harshly due to the size of their salaries. With big money comes big expectations. And rightfully so.

Clubs don’t fork out big contracts in the hope that players will perform – the expectation is that players will earn their money.

In pure business terms, clubs want to see a return on their investment.

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Yet even that business analogy brings us back to the original question.

Few other professions have their salaries so transparent. Most individuals would be mortified if their income was public knowledge.

For the most part, the right of privacy is honoured. Why should athletes be any different?

As an example, why should the amount of money Sandow and Blair earn, respectively, be made public knowledge?

Well, the reverse side of this equation is that there is actually a need for the information to be shared.

Coaches deserve to know how much of their salary cap or club budget is being spent. After all, their jobs are essentially in the hands of their players.

They’d definitely want a say in where the finances are being assigned. They therefore should know what players are being paid.

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Meanwhile, fans are the lifeblood of most professional sporting teams. Without them, the athletes wouldn’t be in the position they are.

Fans, directly or indirectly, are the reason the players get paid. So they quite rightfully expect to know how their club is spending its money.

More specifically, they deserve to know how much the club’s players are earning.

As a by-product of those two audiences, teammates and the media will also be made aware of player salaries. Suddenly absolutely everyone knows everyone’s salaries.

An advertising agency in London had a novel approach to employee salaries. When new employees were interviewed, they were able to negotiate any salary (within reason) that they wanted.

The only caveat was that every single employee’s salary was posted in reception for the entire business to see.

As I mentioned before, with a large salary comes large expectations, and those employees that asked for a hefty salary suddenly found themselves needing to justify it to all their colleagues.

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Long and hard hours were required to prevent the inevitable chat of so-and-so not earning their dollars.

In that instance, the transparency of salaries was used to motivate staff.

This is essentially the same model that exists with athletes – the big salary is both a reward and the motivation to perform better.

Yet players don’t intentionally under-perform. A number of factors normally contribute to a player not playing well.

Certainly the pressure of living up to their salary doesn’t help. So perhaps they might perform better if no one knew what they were earning?

Then again, there is a sentiment that says you should earn your dough and that you shouldn’t have signed a big contract if you were unable to handle everything that comes along with it.

So I ask the questions to Roarers; should athletes’ salaries be public knowledge?

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