Do you think professional athletes are paid too much? You might think they make more than they're worth playing six months, but athletes have a lot of things that contribute to their salary. Some of these things include earnings from sponsorships, ticket sales, performances, merchandise, social contributions and television ratings. While there are many factors that contribute to their salary, professional athletes may be overpaid because, as a society, we contribute to their success. So, in the end, part of the athlete's salary comes from the people who support the sport in the first place. These are just some of the reasons why athletes get paid so much. The controversy over overpaid athletes dates back to 1922, when noted baseball player George “Babe” Ruth was paid $50,000 in his first year of career. Ruth's vast wealth has been bolstered by dozens of endorsements (Saperecom). As shown in Figure 1, Tiger Woods ranks first as the highest-paid athlete in the Fortunate 50. Tiger's 2011 salary is $2,294,116, and like Babe Ruth, his endorsements exceed his salary earning $60,000,000 for a total of $62,294,116 (Freedman). It's crazy to think that 89 years ago, professional athletes earned barely more than the average person today. This is of course not counting the inflation that has occurred since the years Babe Ruth played baseball. Athletes are offered approval to act as a company's representative to help promote sales. They are often seen in commercials promoting athletic clothing, shoes, sports drinks, food and other products. Marketing companies know that associating a product with an athlete can dramatically increase sales. Fig 1. Gaines, Cork. "...... middle of paper...... Scores and daily analysis from Sports Illustrated. Warner. Web. September 10, 2011. Miller, Amanda. “Athlete Endorsements: What's in a Name.” The Business of Sport. Web. September 12, 2011. Resnick, Steven. “Are Professional Athletes Really Paid Too Much?” Information for the world's business leaders. Forbes, 05 July 2008. Web. 01 September 2011. Russo, Christopher and Allenor St John. "Money for nothing." The Mad Dog 100: The greatest sports arguments of all time. New York: Broadway, 2004. 238-39. Print.Salaam, Khalid. “Are professional athletes overpaid or fairly compensated?” The Atlanta Moguldom, June 29, 2010. Web. August 30, 2011 Overpaid Professional Athletes?" OverpaidAthletes.net - Overpaid Athletes. Web. September 6. 2011.