How long is a football career, for most footballers who ever get to the level of being paid to play?
This is the oft-repeated refrain of players and agents.
It has a grain of truth but is not the whole picture either.
Ah hah. Some sense at last. Someone seeking the full picture instead of envy, jealousy, ignorance and conjecture.
I'm just going to go over this one more time because I can't see how you're getting envy, jealously, ignorance and conjecture out of this. For a start I'll say I'm in favour of collective bargaining and unions and the players are entitled to ask for more money if they feel they aren't adequately paid, just to get that clear. In this case it seems like those demands are unreasonable due to the financial situations of many of the clubs. However, I admit that most of the information coming out has been from the employer's side and as such we might not be getting the full picture about the negotiations. I'm only commenting on what's made it into public.
As I see it there are 2 key issues here - issue one is how much is a professional footballer's labour worth? The most simplistic answer is that they are worth however much someone is willing to pay. That's not entirely accurate in this case though. For a start, the labour market for Australian (and New Zealand) professional footballers is not entirely "free". Restrictions on foreign players in other pro football labour markets like Europe or Asia mean that the value of Aussie players in those markets is less - because an Australian player of equal skill to an English player is a less attractive option for an English football club. Still, this doesn't count for every A League player - Thomas Broich could go back to Germany if he thought he'd get paid more there, for instance. Also, the salary cap in the A League puts an artificial limit on how much clubs here can pay players (marquees excluded). That cuts both ways though because the collective agreement also stipulates minimum salaries too. So if we accept that the labour market for pro footballers from Australia isn't free, it is possible that they aren't paid fairly. I'll grant you that - although I think it would still be pretty close to fair though. And the broader labour market in Australia is reasonably fair, so if a professional footballer decided they could make more money as say, an investment banker, they could walk away from football and pursue that career.
The second issue is where does the money come from? If we accept that A League players are underpaid, who should pay them more? The money comes from fans consuming either the A League as a product itself, or from sponsors who believe that endorsing the A League or individual clubs is worth it. If clubs are struggling financially now, then increasing player's salaries does not seem like an obvious thing to do. It could be though - if the extra money attracts better players and improves the quality of the league so more people start watching it. Of course, clubs folding because they are not economically sustainable would have the opposite impact on the quality of the league and sponsors' willingness to associate themselves with it. I think financial prudence is reasonable in this case but I see an argument the other way.
Either way, I just fail to see how the length of a playing career can be used to argue that players should be paid more. Like I said, they make the choice to follow this career path. You see it with young kiwi players quite often where they choose to not pursue a pro career relentlessly, but instead take a scholarship to a US college so they have other options. Those guys are making a tough call - but they're also proof that you can be a good young footballer and choose to do something else with your life. No one is forcing you to follow this path.
I personally spent a fair chunk of my 20s working for 50c an hour more than minimum wage in a CD store. I knew that there was zero chance of career progression and that I could earn more money if I went and got an office job, but I loved the job I was doing, I was mates with the boss, I had really good hours and 3 day weekends and I was happy to do it. Eventually I decided I wanted more financial security and to think about my future and I went back to uni, finished my qualifications and now earn way more than I did in retail. How was me deciding that I'd rather work in a CD store for less pay and no long-term career opportunities any different to a young guy deciding he wants a pro football career even though he knows it'll only be 10 or 15 years long and then he'll have to start over? Should I have demanded more money from my employer because I could have earned more in a different industry?