• Yawweee877h444@lemmy.world
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    3 hours ago

    This is just capitalism, isn’t it?

    Athletes and entertainers that make millions do so because people pay for it in large numbers. This is what capitalism wants and does.

    I agree with your sentiment but I think you’re just critiquing capitalism. If I had my way these people would be taxed up the wazoo. No baseball player or Hollywood actor should ever be worth 10s of millions, let alone hundreds, or billions.

    • porcoesphino@mander.xyz
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      1 hour ago

      I think some of this is related to radio, tv and internet too. Before radio few people could follow a game live so the audience, or at least live emotional audience, is a lot smaller and that’s pretty aligned to profit. Or put another way, if every Messi or Taylor Swift fan gave 50c every year they’d be filthy rich but that was harder to acheive before radio with things being more local.

      • porcoesphino@mander.xyz
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        1 hour ago

        A friend shared this a month or so ago and I haven’t been able to check how accurate it is but apparently its soccer player wages in 1999:

        Highest soccer earners in 1999

        That was a lot of money at the time, but even adjusting for inflation it really doesn’t seem to be the fuckoff money they get now

        Edit: I read these as annual but leaving this here to showcase my folly