US Financial Change Management

Introduction

It’s no secret that the entire US budgeting is in serious need of financial change management; though other countries could look at this too. Truth is, I had what I consider to be a very simple and obvious thought, then I did the math on it all; which I hate doing. Anyway, here are my thoughts.

Real Athletes and Wasted Money

Now, I realize there are a whole lot of people who enjoy watching “professional” sports on TV and in the stadiums. The truth is, these people could gain just as much entertainment out of watching college games as they often do watching the so-called, pros. It is more than fair to say that a vast majority of sports fans pay as much (if not more) attention to college games than they do those who p lay beyond their college years. Okay, stop and think for a moment about the financial changes that could be implemented in the United States if sports ended at the college level. Imagine for a moment that any athlete wanting to remain an athlete beyond college, had to strive for the Olympics. The quality of Olympians would go up and this country would gain back an astounding amount of wasted money. Yes, wasted money. Money that is currently paid to so-called “professional” athletes. A true professional athlete is found in Olympics and not in million-dollar homes and inside of cars that cost more than the typical person’s house.

Time to Break It All Down

There are professions that are critical to our future and that warrant a great deal more than what they currently get for their efforts. Let’s look at the math of it all. I know; I hate math too, but in order to fully understand the big picture, we simply have to do it. What is the average annual pay for a “professional” athlete in this country? Some may be shocked to find out, really. Well; here you go:

Average Annual Pay of a Pro Athlete

NBA = $5.15 Million

MLB = $3.2 Million

NHL = $2.4 Million

NFL = $1.9 Million

Yeah; that’s a whole lot of money for playing games. Okay, now how many people are on a sports team typically?

Typical Number of Team Members

NBA = 12

MLB = 25

NHL = 20

NFL = 53

With me so far? Good. So, if you take the above figures, then the average annual pay per team would be:

Average Annual Pay Per Team

NBA = $61,800,000

MLB = $80,000,000

NHL = $48,000,000

NFL = $100,700,000

Worthy Professions Suffering and More Deserving

In cast you haven’t done the math yourself yet, that totals out at $290,500,000 each year, that “professional” athletes are being paid in the United States. Take a long and true look at that number and then allow yourself to compare what is done to earn it, to those in professions such as:

• Teachers
• US Military
• Healthcare Workers
• Fire Fighters
• Law Enforcement

If that money was budgeted out to help support these professions- who truly make difference- then that would come out to a staggering, $58,100,000 budgeted to each profession. That alone is enough to tell me our priorities need to change. However; that’s just the numbers associated with one team. How much financial change could be done if sports stopped at the college level and all teams (other than Olympics) were eliminated; and the money put to better use? Well, let’s look. How many pro sports teams are there?

Number of Pro Sports Teams in the United States

# of NBA teams = 30

# of MLB teams = 30

# of NHL teams = 30

# of NFL teams = 32

If we take the average pay for each team and multiply it by the number of teams…

Over All Totals Going to Pro Sports

NBA = $61,800,000 X 30 = $1.85400 Billion

MLB = $80,000,000 X 30 = $2.4 Billion

NHL = $48,000,000 X 30 = $1.44 Billion

NFL = $100,700,000 X 32 = $3.2224 Billion

Over all Total = $8.9164 Billion Per Year!

Those same 5 professions could be funded with $1.78328 Billion each! Every year!

Conclusion

Now; all of this doesn’t even take into consideration how that money could also be used to balance the budget, medical research, and any number of thousands of other problems we face in this country. So, I guess at this point, it just leaves me with one question… NOW, do you see what I’m talking about?

Thank you for reading. Hope this gets you thinking.