Our Gods of Entertainment

Over the past week, two professional athletes hit the jackpot. Shohei Ohtani, the erstwhile pitcher and designated hitter for the Anaheim Angels, signed a record $700 million contract with the crosstown Los Angeles Dodgers. The 10-year deal makes Ohtani the highest paid athlete in world history… for now.

Meanwhile, Spanish golfer Jon Rahm came to terms with LIV Golf, the Saudi-backed professional golf tour, for a reported $566 million of which $302 million is being paid him upfront. Since most of Ohtani’s compensation is deferred, the deal that Rahm signed is more lucrative in the short-term.

Both men are now set for life… as are their children, their grandchildren, and their great-grandchildren. So, I would imagine, are their agents.

As a free market capitalist, I don’t begrudge either man for cashing in on their athletic talent, although in doing so, Rahm went back on his word and left his fellow pros on the PGA Tour hanging. And I am sure that Ohtani’s signing didn’t set well with Angels fans as the Dodgers plucked one of their two superstars (Mike Trout being the other) right from under their nose.

Ah, the rich keep getting richer…

My concern isn’t how much Rahm and Ohtani are making, although I think the Dodgers seriously overpaid for a 29-year-old player who is coming off his second Tommy John surgery. That means that Shohei will bat three to five times per game… and then go sit down in the dugout. No playing the field and definitely no pitching until at least 2025.

On the contrary, my concern is how skewed and out-of-whack our compensation system is in America, because our compensation system reflects our society’s values and priorities.

If Ohtani has 600 at bats in 2024, he will make $117,000 per plate appearance. Let that sink in for a minute. Even if he goes 0-for-4 with three strikeouts, Shohei will still be paid in a single game more than eight times the annual salary of an American worker.

For three hours of work (actually, as a DH, about 15 minutes of work), Ohtani’s take-home pay will exceed the annual salary of a teacher, a nurse, a firefighter, a pastor, an auto mechanic, a plumber, an electrician, and a police officer… combined!

What does that say about America? Standing at the plate while an opposing pitcher hurls baseballs in your direction at 100-mph may be dangerous. But it’s not run-into-a-burning-building-to-save-a-child dangerous… or confront-an-armed-robber-with-a-hostage dangerous.

The next time your pipes are leaking or your power goes off, I doubt you will call Jon Rahm to come to the rescue. And the next time your car breaks down on the road in the middle of the night, I don’t think you’ll have Shohei Ohtani on speed dial.

Who would you rather teach your children: someone who has a Master’s degree in elementary education or Taylor Swift? And yet, Time magazine’s Person of the Year is set to gross $780 million this year, while professional educators earn an average salary of $66,397. I’m also willing to bet that no teacher in America has a net worth of $1.1 billion.

Again, just like Jon Rahm and Shohei Otani, Taylor Swift has every right to earn as much as she possibly can. But something is askew in our society when someone with strong vocal cords can buy and sell someone who has dedicated their life to teaching others… or nursing them back to health… or rescuing their very lives.

I honestly don’t know how to fix such an imbalance other than to say I will not be forking over $350 to see Shohei Ohtani swing a bat at Dodger Stadium, which is the average ticket price for the 2024 season. Nor will I be plunking down $1,000 or more to watch Taylor Swift gyrate on stage for a few hours.

Maybe if more Americans refused to worship at the altar of their entertainment gods, we could afford to give First Responders a raise. In the meantime, I plan to establish a Go Fund Me page for soccer superstar Lionel Messi, who is squeaking by on a measly $130 million per year.

Oh, the horror!