The going rate for athletes has soared in the past 15 years or so. Do you think they should be paid more than other fields of work? Why or why not?

Probably not but the sports market is so huge you can justify the salaries by how much money fans/businesses/etc spend on sporting events.

Yes, mostly based on career longevity.  Every athlete has maybe 10 years, give or take, in their profession before wear and tear and aging drags them down.  Yes there are exceptions to the rule, but nonetheless, the average is usually 10-to-15 years.  Yes, there are some who get endorsement deals and other supplemental pay post-career, but there aren't many Michael Jordan's out there doing Hane's snug fit commercials 30 years after their prime.

HOWEVER.

I'll put the addendum of them having to keep their nose clean and being a strong role model and bending to league rulings.  Leagues shouldn't be afraid to spank the million dollar brats just because their bottom line is higher than theirs either.  I'm not a huge sports fan, which is why I'm generalizing in my remarks and sentiments, but I've seen enough over the past few years in the news alone to tell me that the athletes need to be wrangled, corralled, and put in their place when it comes to how they represent their franchise and league.

Point blank; if you want to play catch for a living for millions of dollars, there's got to be a give and take when it comes to how you approach those paying you.  No player's strikes over a silly skim on your millions, no DUI's or drug busts, and no harming women, children, or animals.  You are where you are today because you looked up to someone when you were younger who was in the same position as you, and while there are flaws in all of humanity, embrace the fact that, like it or not, you signed up to be on that Wheaties box to sell a kid some damn cereal.

Y2Impact wrote:

The going rate for athletes has soared in the past 15 years or so. Do you think they should be paid more than other fields of work? Why or why not?

Supply and Demand.  Fans demand the very best in that field and not everyone can be a Kobe Bryant or Aaron Rogers.  They deserve the pay if they produce on the field and bring people's butts to seats.  People don't pay to watch an electrician so they don't deserve to be paid millions of dollars.

I think in a way it's all justifiable because of the amount of revenue that is made based on them, i.e. their marketability plus their talent. But now you see teams taking drastic chances on unproven players and offering them contracts they haven't quite earned yet. The market will continue to rise and unproven players will continue to make more and more, meaning the proven players will make more than ever.