Do Pro Golfers get paid equitably?
Do Pro Golfers get paid equitably? Not even close!
Hi, I’m Mel Sole, Director of Instruction at the Mel Sole Golf School, headquartered at Pawleys Plantation Golf and Country Club in Pawleys Island, SC. We conduct 1, 2, and 3-day golf schools, hourly golf lessons, and senior golf schools—any golf instruction program your heart desires. Give us a call at 800-624-4653 or 843-237-4993. We will be happy to book a commuter school or a package that contains accommodations, golf, and golf school.
Golf Blog by the Mel Sole Golf School.
How does golf stack up against the other sports when it comes to earnings? We all tend to think that professional athletes from any sport make tons of money, and they do. Do you think that Pro Golfers need to be paid more? If we look at the tennis players, it's not even close. Professional golfers are underpaid compared to a lot of other sports. Read what Golf Week and Alex Miceli think about this!
In earning $1.8 million for winning the recent U.S. Open, Jordan Spieth pocketed 12 1/2 times what Jack Nicklaus won on his biggest payday as a player. Of course, more than inflation has been at work in boosting golf purses since the Golden Bear won $144,000 on that momentous 1986 spring day at Augusta National.
Television has enriched PGA Tour purses and, by extension, a new generation of golfers.
In Nicklaus’ day, a $1.8 million purse was big news. Today, a champion takes home that much from a purse of $10 million at events such as the Masters, Players, U.S. Open, and PGA.
Big money, for sure, but is it equitable with other sports’ payouts?
Golf Compared to Tennis.
In tennis, the 2015 French Open offered a total prize fund for men and women of more than $30 million. By comparison, the sum of the men’s and women’s U.S. Open golf purses will be $14 million.
The male and female tennis winners at Wimbledon this year will pocket more than $3 million. At tennis’ U.S. Open, the winners will receive even bigger slices from the richest of the sport’s four Grand Slam events, with a purse expected to top $40 million.
Comparing golf to tennis seems fair. The competitors in both sports are independent contractors, pay their own expenses and get paid depending on how well they perform. However, comparing golf purses with the money in the four major team sports – football, basketball, baseball and hockey – can get skewed.
NBA.
The NBA recently signed a new TV deal for $24 billion that will go into effect in 2016. Under the NBA's collective-bargaining agreement, the players will receive roughly 50 percent of all income. The team salary cap will jump from $66 million to potentially $90 million in the first year and eventually to $100 million.
In August 2013, the USGA signed a new TV contract with Fox that by all reports more than doubled the previous deal with NBC and averages about $100 million a year for golf’s governing body in the U.S., its territories and Mexico. With a few back-of-the-envelope calculations, it’s easy to conclude that Spieth and the other U.S. Open competitors were severely underpaid. That’s right: underpaid.
Consider this assumption, which one source familiar with tournament operations affirmed as reasonable: ticket sales, hospitality, merchandise sales and sponsorship deals generate enough money to conduct the U.S. Open. That would leave the pile of TV money untouched.
It's all about the cash!
Cutting the $100 million in half for the USGA to continue to operate and then split the remaining $50 million between the association and the Open competitors would leave $25 million for the purse. The winner would receive about $4.5 million.
Of course, that breakdown comes after including only the domestic TV rights to the Open. The international rights are not a factor in the equation either.
The world’s top golfers generally are satisfied with the purses, which have grown exponentially since Tiger Woods’ rise in the late 1990s: from $70.7 million in 1996 to $314 million this year. However, were golfers’ efforts undervalued before the Woods era, and are they now at least in the ballpark?
To read the rest of Alex Miceli's story, go here.
Source: Alex Miceli Golf Week Mel Sole Golf School
Pictures: Golf Week USGA www.SeniorLiving.Org
Thanks for reading - Do Pro Golfers get paid equitably? I don't think so!
Related Posts.
Does Your Backyard Course Compare With These?
Do you like to watch golf on TV or in person?
Fix your Tennis or Golfer’s Elbow – Fitness Friday #76.
I am sharing even though it’s not golf.
4 Of The Best US Open Stories in 100 Years!
PLEASE SUBSCRIBE TO MY CHANNEL, LIKE THIS VIDEO, SHARE IT WITH A FRIEND, LEAVE A COMMENT!