3. It's Show Business Baby!
Lets be honest about something, sport doesnt actually matter at all. It has no real bearing on the fates of nations or civilizations. It is not life or death. It is, in the end, entertainment and athletes are entertainers of a sort. Perhaps Lionel Messi isnt an entertainer in the same way Michael Jackson was or Johnny Depp is, but he is the star attraction in a business built around entertainment. You cant fill Old Trafford or Yankee Stadium or the Nou Camp or any other sporting venue without the talent, for it is the talent that people pay to see. According to IMDB, Depps paycheque for the fourth Pirates of the Caribbean movie was $55 000 000. Was he worth it? No question, because who would go see Jack Sparrow played by anyone else? Barcelona pay Messi annually about a third what Depp made for one film, yet which profession is the far greater target of sniping and sarcasm on the issue of wages? Perhaps people simply cannot imagine themselves playing the pirate hero on the big screen in the way that, deep down, they can imagine themselves weaving through defenders in front of a hundred thousand spectators at the Nou Camp. Think you could do what Messi does? You cant. Neither could Johnny Depp.