Have you ever watched ESPN and seen a report about a baseball player signing a five-year contract worth $150 million? Now, with a little math, you might come to figure out that that contract means the ballplayer will make just under $30 million over that five-year period. It's ridiculous. Why do professional baseball players and professional athletes in general make so much money just to play a game that kids play to stay out of trouble? It's because people pay them to play, athletes' unions, for the most part, use to force team owners to pay them such a high salary, and companies pay them to advertise their products. Players don't deserve the money they receive. There are people who do much more than players. Why aren't teachers paid millions of dollars to teach children? Some of these kids end up becoming professional athletes. Policemen and firefighters risk their lives to keep people safe, and most of them don't even make more than $95,000 a year (Megerian). These athletes get fined more money and hand it over as if someone just asked them for a dollar. Players have all this money and they don't even do anything worth earning it for. Why do they receive this money? It's because fans value athletes more than the important things in life like education and family. “Fans pay to see athletes compete at the highest level. Of course, it is above all the fans who pay the athletes' salaries" (Walter). Yes, much of an athlete's pay comes from the people who come to watch them. Athletes receive a portion of all revenue received by their team or staff. This means that everyone receives a share of the prize money, everyone receives a share of... half of the paper... August 2011. Web. December 4, 2011.Bucher, Rick. “Source: Union has supply problems.” ESPN.go.com. np 15 November 2011. Web. 22 November 2011. Libero, Giona. “The 50 Highest Earning American Athletes.” Illustrated sport. np 2011. Web. November 21, 2011. Gilbert, Sarah Jane. “Marketing Maria: Managing Athlete Approval.” Harvard Business School. np 29 October 2007. web. November 21, 2011.Megerian, Chris/ Statehouse Bureau. “New Jersey police salaries are the highest in the nation with an average pay of $90,672.” nj.com. New Jersey Online, LLC. September 19, 2010. Web. December 4, 2011. Sherk, James. “What Unions Do: How Unions Affect Employment and the Economy.” The Heritage Foundation. np May 21, 2009. web. November 21, 2011.Walter, Andrew. “Point: Salary caps ensure parity in professional sports.” Tennessee Electronic Library. np 2011.web. November 21st 2011.