Athletes are commodities. They generate income for corporations as a product (entertainment) that is sold to consumers (sports fans). Companies invest in these products through the salaries they pay athletes in the same way a company that sells widgets invests in development and marketing. Although the athletes are sentient, and have their own desires and demands, they can be likened in some ways to the Looney Toons in the hit movie, Space Jam. In that movie the toons, and subsequently Michael Jordan, face the possibility of a life of enslavement on Moron Mountain. Because Michael in an act of premeditated (by his managers) benevolence offers to take the toon's place, he engages in a battle for his freedom against the MonStars, who have stolen the basketball prowess of some of the NBAs most storied all-stars. The stakes are high. Should he lose he will be forced to sign autographs, get dunked on, and be caged for the viewers pleasure for the rest of his life. He would be throughly commoditized in a darker way than he is in real life, but the parallels are clear. In both the cartoon fantasy of Swackhammer and his desperate theme park and the world we live in, athletes exist for our pleasure because we derive pleasure from watching and supporting their efforts. Were we uninterested in sports, as a species, we would never represent the demand that the CEOs of large sports franchises seek to fulfill. People don't complain about the salaries of pro athletes because we love our sports, revel in the competitiveness, idolize the practitioners, and aspire to be loved in the same way.