Why do Ball Players Make so much Money?

[johnnymk]

I have a good friend (a sports nut) who has never been able to give me a good answer:

Considering that there are approximately 280 million people in America and many millions of people in neighboring countries, there must be a very large pool of potentially good ball players out there.

I can't imagine that the total number of professional football, baseball, and basketball players in America is even close to 1000.

Figure at least one person in 1000 is very good in one of those sports. That's 280,000 people to pick from just from America.

In any other industry with those odds, the guy would be lucky to find a job making minimum wage.

[Jihforce]

I'd also like to add the fact that many of those athletes run the risk of being injured permanently or even die. So the are risks involved.

[whitak24]

i would say that the short answer is that we, as a society, overvalue entertainment in relation to other commodities. so people who provide us entertainment will naturally receive far more money than someone who, say, teaches kids how to read.