BY AFTON HICKS
As the professional sports have grown, so have the salaries of the athletes who play them. Quick to pull out their checkbooks to support the franchise, the American people have aided the sports industry in housing some of the highest paying jobs in not only the country, but the world. However, a rising trend has been occurring among these sports superstars – bankruptcy. Bankruptcy is becoming an epidemic among professional athletes and it’s spreading like wildfire. With no one taking action to teach these players how to manage their money, athletes are quickly going from gracing the covers of cereal boxes to sleeping on them.
With their uncanny athletic ability, it is no wonder athletes rake in such large paychecks. They have become familiar faces in homes across the nation, pulling in money not only from their sport but also from seemingly endless endorsement deals they receive.
The highest paid athlete in 2011 is Tiger Woods, rolling in at an unbelievable 90.51 million dollars. Compared to Michael Jordan, the highest paid athlete in the world 15 years ago at 30 million a year, the inflation of athletes salaries has reached an all time high. The starting pay for rookie players isn’t low either. In the NFL, the average pay of a first year player is 310,000 dollars. While the argument can be made as to whether or not these numbers are too high, there is no argument in saying that there should be no reason why athletes go broke.
With paychecks in that monetary range, the question then stands as to how these athletes are becoming bankrupt, why so many of them are, and why it happens so fast after the end of their career? 60 percent of former NBA players are broke within five years of retiring and that’s low compared to the 78 percent of former NFL players who are broke within two years. Not only is that number sad, but also it’s scary. Clearly, something is to blame.
Whether it’s drugs, gambling, bad investments, women, etc. the cause of athlete bankruptcy always boils down to a lack of self-control. These are multi-millionaires who have literally had everything handed to them, once the money stops pouring in; it’s hard to transition to a more modest lifestyle. They have also had little or no experience in managing money. Four-time boxing champ Evander Holyfield lost a majority of his money through excessive spending, including a 138 million dollar home. Two time PGA major champ John Daly lost his money gambling in Vegas casinos. Those are just two examples of athletes who have made poor choices in handling their money.
Even though professional athletes are mainly to blame in their poor money management, the associations and franchises they play for need to take some of the responsibility. Athletes need to be educated on how to manage their money, and professional associations need to take more responsibility in teaching them how to be responsible. The glitz and the glamour of the high life is not worth having to spend the rest of your life in constant fear of repossession, foreclosure, and starvation.
If there is a silver lining to this cloud, it’s that average people can use these athletes as an example for exactly what not to do with their money. In the end though, it’s not about who does it or how. These American heroes need to be taught how to manage their money and avoid the devastation of a life plagued by bankruptcy.
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