So my teacher said yeh
They earn what they do because economically they should. There arent many of the professional players around and so supply is limited, and due to crowds and clubs wanting to watch and being willing to pay the money to watch - they're paid at exactly the right amount.
Exactly the same reason for soldiers being paid little compared to footballers. There's a massive supply as it's relatively easy to get in, and a lot of people are willing to join. But, there isnt a big demand for soldiers at the present moment in time anyway, and so demand is low. At the end of the day, everyone's paid right, as it isnt determined by what they're doing, but just by how much other people want them to be doing what they're doing if you get what I mean.
It's a shame in a sense as it puts people off sports like Athletics because it's very hard to make a living unless you're very good and earning lots through media and sponsorships. I know a silver and a bronze medallist from the olympics from a few years ago and they struggled to fit training around full time jobs. It's now a different case as the competition from the likes of China is so fierce that they have to train all day every day and so they dont have enough time to fit in jobs, and so many really struggle to survive just from the little sponsorship they get at the amateur levels and so have to cut back on training to fit a job around it, which completely limits their chances of getting to a high level. Unfortunately because of this, it leaves the vast majority of the top athletes only being able to make it because their parents have had enough money to fund them through it - and so the sporting world is still massively dominated by the middle classes in these more niche sports such as athletics, sailing, rowing, and even bigger sports such a tennis is still massively dominated by the wealthy.
At least the government is now vowing to do more to help spot talent and give necessary funding to those who cant afford it themselves.