Joe Rogan calls Olympics "kind of a scam" because athletes don't earn much: "It generates billions of dollars in revenue"
Joe Rogan has criticized the Olympics for not paying competing athletes enough money, despite the Games being one of the most viewed sporting events in history and the fact that it generates "billions of dollars".
The summer Olympics are set to kick off next month on July 26 in Paris and is set to run until Aug. 11. This year's games also marks the first time the Olympic committee will directly pay winning athletes, with gold medal winners taking home $50,000.
Before the changes this year, athletes typically earned money through their own generated sponsorships and were supported financially by their own countries Olympic organizations.
For example, the US Olympic committee has always paid its athletes competing at the Games, paying winners $37,500 for a gold medal, $22,000 for silver, and $15,000 for bronze.
Rogan then discussed the Olympics and athlete pay during episode #2166 of The Joe Rogan Experience this week. He was joined by guests Christian Angermayer and Dr. Aron D’Souza, co-founders of a new Olympic-style event.
The UFC color commentator labeled the Olympics as a "scam", believing that those competing aren't paid nearly enough for their efforts. He said:
"The Olympics is kind of a scam. Because it generates billions of dollars in revenue and the people that are there to perform make almost none of that."
Catch Rogan's comments here (1:15):
Joe Rogan praises British crime dramas such as Peaky Blinders and The Gentlemen
On a recent episode of The Joe Rogan Experience, Joe Rogan opted to praise the plethora of British crime dramas he's been binging.
On episode #2165 of the show, Rogan was speaking to guest Jack Carr and revealed he had just started watching the critically acclaimed show 'Peaky Blinders', which stars Oscar-winning actor Cillian Murphy.
According to Rogan, he had gotten the itch for British crime dramas after first watching the entirety of Guy Ritichies new Netflix show 'The Gentlemen'. He said:
"I just started watching Peaky Blinders. F**king great! It's f**king great! I burned through The Gentlemen, which is Guy Ritchie's new show on Netflix, which is amazing. It's f**ing great! Prime Guy Ritchie. It's great."
He continued:
"And then, a lot of friends have been telling me, 'You got to watch Peaky Blinders,' and Jamie keeps telling me I got to watch The Wire, and that's next. The Wire's next, but I got to get through Peaky Blinders. Peaky Blinders is fu**ing great."
Catch Joe Rogan's comments here (1:21:30):