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Most individual competitive sports are like this. The top of the crop get the bulk of the tournament payouts, the bottom get a pittance that barely cover their

by asdff 2y ago

Most individual competitive sports are like this. The top of the crop get the bulk of the tournament payouts, the bottom get a pittance that barely cover their costs to attend the tournament, and the ones who miss the cut entirely get a mound of debt for making their way out there to merely be a warm body for other talent to route. Sponsorships help cover some costs but not everyone can get very lucrative sponsor deals especially a low rank player. There's honestly better money giving lessons for probably $150-250 an hour or so than there is making a go at the world stage. I'm sure that's a path many end up taking after the writing is clear on the wall.

jakub_g 2y ago
Not to mention that in many sports, you can literally be a world champion level and just barely affording to cover the necessary costs (best equipment, long training camps abroad etc.) to compete at the highest level. In my country we have olympic medalists in kayaking, rowing etc. and they are nowhere close to making any money out of it.
- johannes1234321 2y ago
  > In my country we have olympic medalists in kayaking, rowing etc. and they are nowhere close to making any money out of it. That's the reason that in many countries the zoom Olympic athletes work for the state (soldier, police, ...) where training and representing the country at competitions are part of the Job and once the aports career is over ideally they get a job as clerk or such in the administration
  - JohnBooty 2y ago
    Countries like the USA have a system with slightly less pretense. If you're part of the Olympic program you basically get paid a small living wage (but, importantly, all your expenses are paid for: food, medical care equipment, etc) to train full time.
    - johannes1234321 2y ago
      The benefit of the soldier/police/... system is that you get education for another job on the side, so if your career breaks down for whatever reason you got a simpler transition into a "normal" job.
- avalys 2y ago
  Is there any reason to expect it should be otherwise? Competing in sports is a very selfish thing to do, and produces no benefit for anyone else unless you’re good enough to be entertaining to watch, so why should anyone expect to make money doing it? You’re adding no value to society.
  - spuz 2y ago
    I disagree that the low ranking athletes don't provide value to society. They are the motivation for the people at the top to continue to improve. The more people are nipping at the feet of the top athletes, the more they realise they increase their game. That's without mentioning that in some sports, a lot of people enjoy watching the lower level performers because they can more easily relate to them.
    - JohnBooty 2y ago
      I agree with you. These sports in general provide value in the sense that many people find them worth paying for. That's the definition of value. Now, it's true that they're not generally excited to see the #503rd ranked player in the world play the #489th ranked player. But, the top 50 players in the world were once ranked at the bottom. They played their way up. In other words, how would you know who are the best players in the world unless you have a large pool of professional players? Like many, I have a lot of issues with the way tennis rankings are calculated and the way prize money is distributed. You need those lower ranked players and therefore they should be paid more.
      - quartesixte 2y ago
        Also want to point out that top 500 ranked individuals in individual sports represent 99.99 percentile skill level against the entire pool of people playing that sport recreationally. It’s just that they’re playing against 99.99999% percentile skill level athletes. But make no mistake D1 and Pro-Circuit players are, at the end of the day, still very good.
    - watwut 2y ago
- kazinator 2y ago
  That's because sports is is an entertainment medium. It's exactly the same like you could be the best jazz trumpeter in the world, and broke. You have to be on top of a popular sport, whose events are broadcast and viewed by huge numbers of people.
- IncreasePosts 2y ago
  My cousin won a bronze medal in a non-prestigious event in 2004, and according to him there are a ton of people who love hiring Olympic level athletes, because they believe that they have the personality to strive to win. So, he barely won any money from the actual sport itself, but his job prospects after he retired were very good, even for someone who was in his mid-thirties and almost no real work experience.

by asdff 2y ago

jakub_g 2y ago

Not to mention that in many sports, you can literally be a world champion level and just barely affording to cover the necessary costs (best equipment, long training camps abroad etc.) to compete at the highest level. In my country we have olympic medalists in kayaking, rowing etc. and they are nowhere close to making any money out of it.

johannes1234321 2y ago
> In my country we have olympic medalists in kayaking, rowing etc. and they are nowhere close to making any money out of it. That's the reason that in many countries the zoom Olympic athletes work for the state (soldier, police, ...) where training and representing the country at competitions are part of the Job and once the aports career is over ideally they get a job as clerk or such in the administration
- JohnBooty 2y ago
  Countries like the USA have a system with slightly less pretense. If you're part of the Olympic program you basically get paid a small living wage (but, importantly, all your expenses are paid for: food, medical care equipment, etc) to train full time.
  - johannes1234321 2y ago
    The benefit of the soldier/police/... system is that you get education for another job on the side, so if your career breaks down for whatever reason you got a simpler transition into a "normal" job.
avalys 2y ago
Is there any reason to expect it should be otherwise? Competing in sports is a very selfish thing to do, and produces no benefit for anyone else unless you’re good enough to be entertaining to watch, so why should anyone expect to make money doing it? You’re adding no value to society.
- spuz 2y ago
  I disagree that the low ranking athletes don't provide value to society. They are the motivation for the people at the top to continue to improve. The more people are nipping at the feet of the top athletes, the more they realise they increase their game. That's without mentioning that in some sports, a lot of people enjoy watching the lower level performers because they can more easily relate to them.
  - JohnBooty 2y ago
    I agree with you. These sports in general provide value in the sense that many people find them worth paying for. That's the definition of value. Now, it's true that they're not generally excited to see the #503rd ranked player in the world play the #489th ranked player. But, the top 50 players in the world were once ranked at the bottom. They played their way up. In other words, how would you know who are the best players in the world unless you have a large pool of professional players? Like many, I have a lot of issues with the way tennis rankings are calculated and the way prize money is distributed. You need those lower ranked players and therefore they should be paid more.
    - quartesixte 2y ago
      Also want to point out that top 500 ranked individuals in individual sports represent 99.99 percentile skill level against the entire pool of people playing that sport recreationally. It’s just that they’re playing against 99.99999% percentile skill level athletes. But make no mistake D1 and Pro-Circuit players are, at the end of the day, still very good.
  - watwut 2y ago
kazinator 2y ago
That's because sports is is an entertainment medium. It's exactly the same like you could be the best jazz trumpeter in the world, and broke. You have to be on top of a popular sport, whose events are broadcast and viewed by huge numbers of people.
IncreasePosts 2y ago
My cousin won a bronze medal in a non-prestigious event in 2004, and according to him there are a ton of people who love hiring Olympic level athletes, because they believe that they have the personality to strive to win. So, he barely won any money from the actual sport itself, but his job prospects after he retired were very good, even for someone who was in his mid-thirties and almost no real work experience.