It is the Stanley Cup final, the Toronto Maple Leafs are playing against the Buffalo Sabres. With one minute left in regulation time the game is tied at 1-1, the fans are cheering and the anticipation begins to rise as the time on the clock slowly decreases. Steve Thomas of the Toronto Maple Leafs, sees an opportunity and goes for the puck. He skates towards the net of the opposing team yet is slammed into the boards by Satan of the Buffalo Sabres. Steve Thomas slowly skates to the bench and it is evident that he has been injured. The captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs, Mats Sundin steals the puck back from the Sabres. He rapidly skates into the opposing zone and with merely 20 seconds left in the game he shoots and he scores! A sudden burst of screams and cheers emerges and fills the building. The players are overcome with joy as they achieve their lifetime dreams. .

             Mats Sundin and Steve Thomas are invaluable players to the Toronto Maple Leafs Club. On average they are both getting paid 6.5 million dollars per year. Their skills, determination, and contribution equals their high-paid salaries. In fact, in the past few decades, athletes" salaries such as Steve Thomas and Mats Sundin"s have escalated and society has started to complain. Yet, only one that is ignorant of professional sports would conclude that these salaries are too high before doing an in-depth analysis of them. Professional athletes should be making millions of dollars due to their public demand, the setbacks of their career, and the hazards that their career poses to their health.

             The public"s demand for professional athletes is colossal. Professional athletes are paid based on their contribution to fan satisfaction. For example, the owner of the Dallas Cowboys, Mr. Jones profited over $16,000,000 last year, after paying salaries. However, he would have made a much smaller profit without key players such as Emnitt Smith, Troy Aikman, and Michael Erwin due to the fact that they are the major reason why fans enjoy the games (Valasek, 1).