In the past, sport used to be about talent; however, it was never limited to aptitude but mostly recognised for an individual or team’s ability. That is not the case today because the sport industry has evolved.
And the evolution garners much gains for persons involved, whether it be the coach, manager, player or some official or administrator. There is so much to benefit from.
In fact, Jamaican and the world’s fastest man Usain Bolt – between August 2015 and August 2016 – made US.5 million. Serena Williams earned .9 million between June of 2015 and June 2016. That makes her the world’s highest-paid female athlete over that span. Bolt is the number one ranked in his sport while Williams is currently ranked at number two in hers.
Beyond the playing area, Bill Belichick, New England Patriots coach takes home US.5 million annually while standing at seven million strong Celtic Boston’s coach Glenn “Doc” Rivers is the leading earner among coaches in the NBA.
When it comes to sports, it pays to be at the top of your game. Today, professional athletes stand alongside hedge fund managers, private equity managers, and business tycoons as some of the wealthiest people on the planet.
According to Forbes Magazine, the highest paid athletes in 2014 were Floyd Mayweather (boxer) – 5 million total earnings; Cristiano Ronaldo (soccer) – million total earnings; LeBron James (basketball) – .3 million total earnings; Lionel Messi (soccer) – .7 million total earnings; and Kobe Bryant (basketball) – .5 million total earnings.
However, the salaries of professional athletes did not always looks like this. In the last 50 years or so, a number of industry developments have impacted players’ earnings.
Almost a century ago in the 1920’s, the term “professional” sportsmen had a very different meaning. The earliest teams in professional football, for example, earned as little as US0 to 0 a game, and often traded for similar sums.
“Iconic baseball superstar, Babe Ruth was paid just ,000 per year. Most other players made just a fraction of that, averaging 00, and supplementing their income with off-season jobs, such as selling cars or insurance. Professional golfers were among the best paid athletes during this era, with earnings coming from tournaments and contracts with upscale country clubs. Gene Sarazen and Walter Hagen each received between US,000 and US,000 a year. However, this didn’t change much over the next few decades. In 1955, golfing legend Arnold Palmer had his first professional win at the Canadian Open at Weston Golf and Country Club, pocketing just US00. In contrast, Australian golfer Adam Scott won US.44 million at the Masters championship in 2013.”
The 1960’s is where the evolution started due to the introduction of television in the 1950’s, along with lucrative broadcasting deals, had begun to make many professional athletes significantly wealthier. Audience inflation went from thousands in stadiums to millions via the television. This trend continued over decades and today most athletes retire as athletes, who did not had to find themselves off season jobs.
Whether it be in a first class, developing or third world nation, athletes, officials and administrators are making gains out of sport.
Not too far from Guyana in tiny Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados, Grenada and Jamaica this is the case.
Unfortunately, this is not the case here, unless, you have managed to make it to the West Indies team or gain a contract to a professional club outside Guyana.
Surprisingly with all the chaos surrounding the sport, the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) pays its contracted players somewhere between 0,000 to 0,000 per month, while its academy players (some 33) earn ,000 per month.
Although that amount, based on the money the GCB receives from the West Indies Cricket Board (GCB) is questionable, no other sport association or Board pays its athletes anything close to the sums listed above.
The Guyana Football Federation (GFF) as recent as 2014 were receiving US0,000 annually from Fifa but the players and the sport were and still are suffering. The GFF is now seeking a huge jump in its annual Fifa fundings, somewhere around US.2 million, hopefully the sport and players will gain from that mammoth amount. And the list goes on with Guyana Olympics Association (GOA) and other associations that receive huge amounts from international bodies.
With the initiative implemented by the GCB, cricketers are now able to make cricket a career and can focus on harnessing their skills. This should be an area other administrators could use.
The end of 2016 is just a few days away from its conclusion but in 2017 like most places around the world, Guyanese sport administrators should try their best to make sport a career for the athletes who yearn for it; it is time for the sport and athletes to benefit, not just the administrators.
