So how long before we get rugby stars on this sort of salary...

...probably never...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-31110113

Its an eye opener to how much these foop ball players earn.. and frankly I find it obscene. There is NO WAY on this planet, are they worth this level of money. I don't begrudge them have £millions, but the level paid to these players, is obscene.

This is absolutely monstrous.

People are dying in the world and "individuals" get paid this amount of money for kicking a ball.

The money is obscene..........

BUT, I'd still say that whatever the money is that's flowing into football every second of every day, regardless of games being on or not (merchandise/sponsorship); whatever that figure is - NOBODY in football should get more than the players. If the money is there then who rightfully should get the money that the players shouldn't? Coaches, Owners, Administrators?

The players sell the sport so they should always get most.

Then you're down to who and what gives football the funds to pay players such outlandish sums of money for kicking a ball around a field on Saturdays?  

It's the audience who endlessly watch and buy, and who continue to want more and more games to watch.  If anybody can be held guilty in the cycle then I'm afraid it's the people who buy the tickets, buy the subscriptions and buy the replica Ronaldo boots.... millions upon millions of them all over the world, every second of every day, injecting the money into the sport that then drops into the bank accounts of the highest profile 'stars' who sell the product best.

Fly, I see your point fully...

But I suppose I'd have far more respect for these players, if they turned round and said I only need a third (off the top of my head) of this. So 2/3rds will be put into a charity fund, trust, what-ever, to improve the lives of others. Whether its in their own county, their "adopted" country or a developing country.

I guess what I'm saying, is I don't begrudge their millionaire lifestyle, but I think there would be far more respect for them if they used some of it for the good of others, instead of the "greed" culture that there is at the moment.

I think a better idea would be to take it out of the players' hands and for football across the world to agree to an absolute value that any player can have over a five year period.  And for that absolute value to be one that respects the player's ability and promotional capabilities (as that last bit is a big deciding factor in the wage amount) but not to be so breathtakingly excessive that normal people's eyes water at the thought.

Then, when teams have their spending on individual players curtailed by rules but still the money floods in from the audience, then they are forced to spread the wealth more evenly down through the ranks to lesser players and even devote more of the excess to the things you talk about - the clubs themselves donating heavily to good causes, not individual players.

People, though, would then cry FOUL and say you can't curtail the earning potential of one individual over the earning potential of another (say a lawyer or a building developer)  You can't have rules designed to artifically keep down the value of a player or impede his earning potential.

I'd say in brief that SPORT in general is becoming a run-away train of obsession and addiction; and money diverted to it by normal people needing their continuous 'sports' addict fixes is becoming as obnoxious as the money that gets diverted to military spending on wars that the spenders and arm's producers 'claim' they don't want.

That's like saying cigarette companies would prefer if less people smoked!

But for me, I think 24hour SPORT in General is sucking too much money out of all economies that need it so much to spread around populations crying out for it.

I went to a presentation by Richard Noble one time. It was the launch event for Bloodhound. He was talking about the money needed and how much good it would do industry in this country. Inspiring a new generation of engineers etc. The amount he quoted was I think 8 million - 'or a year's salary for Johnathan Ross'

It is difficult. These players will ultimately earn what the market will support. But the actual numbers can be obscene when you think what else could be done with it.