Bankruptcy Among Former Professional Athletes

When people typically view professional athletes they see the lavish lifestyle, they see the big contracts, and figure that they must be set up financially for the rest of their life. This is not the case though as becoming a professional athlete is similar to hitting the lottery just genetically. Being an athlete creates a large amount of income early in life, but that income decreases to zero once retirement comes around. The documentary Broke is a compilation of interviews and incidents that occurred which showcase the poor money management done by professional athletes. Whether the athlete played basketball, baseball, football, or was a boxer it did not matter there were multiple instances where an athlete that made millions in

College sports can determine a person’s lifestyle. Determines whether or not they can go pro or get a job. Paying athletes can give them a better sense of money. They can learn how to save their money up, learn how to spend it correctly, and a great sense of financial awareness. The problem is that many

Most athletes come from poverty or a struggling home and the only thing that helps them is playing a sport they love. A report showed that “86% of players living off campus living below the federal poverty line,” (National College Players Association). This is with a “full scholarship” these athletes still live a life where they struggle and don 't have enough money to survive in the real world. The case can be made that if they make it all the way where they become professionals, they can earn a lot of money. However, the percent to play in the National Football League (NFL) is slim, in fact, there is a 1.6% chance for a college football player to go to the NFL (NCAA). With 72,788 players in the NCAA, there are 16,175 eligible players to go to the draft, but only 256 draft spots. With all those numbers there isn 't a great chance to get drafted and make millions of dollars where you can set up your family forever. So, those other 15,919 players who don 't get drafted have no financial security, unless they graduate from college with a degree. However, people

When they were in college they never had time to get a job, because they were spending their time doing either school work or practicing/playing the . Also if the athlete is good enough to make it into professionals they will have to manage more money. Tiffany Patterson stated, “One aspect I find lacking in this topic discussion is the ignoring of the very real fact that a lot of athletes are very financially irresponsible.”.

Experts say that college athletes should have a bank account set up for them with money in it so that college athletes would not have an actual paycheck. Joe Nocera a New York Times writer Suggest that, we should set up bank accounts for the college athletes. He says “I would impose a minimum salary: $25,000 per player in each sport. This would obviously not make the athletes rich, but it would give them enough to live like typical college students”. The other side of the conversation says that, the colleges can’t afford to set up bank accounts for every college sports player. The colleges can’t afford it because putting 5,000 dollars in every athlete's account is a lot of

Whether they go on to make millions or are forced to leave professional athletics behind, these skills are both practical and transferable for student athletes” ,one reporter from U.S news said. They should help teach these athletes how to manage their money at a young adult age.

When athletes begin playing on a professional level, they are drafted to a team. Whether it is a large amount or small amount they are signed to a contract. However, some of them use their money unwisely and find themselves in debt. In order to counter this they should be allowed a sum of money while attending school to enable them to be financially aware. Yes, some may argue that scholarships are enough to cover the student’s expenses when in reality it will not be enough to support them all 4 years.

Many high school athletes biggest dream is to become one of the men or women they watch every weekend playing the sport they love on television in front of the thousand in the stadium and the millions at home. Usually the only downfall to going to a favorite college teams game, is having to pay for the ticket to get in. Fans may think, “Where does all the money go to?” Because it doesn’t go to the player out on the field who is bringing the fans, TV contracts, and publicity to their games. The NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association) makes an astonishing six billion dollars a year.

The ESPN documentary Broke gave an inside view of the financial woes of many professional athletes, noting that around 60% of NBA players are broke within five years of retirement. Many of these players blamed poor investments, trusting unethical financial advisors and lavish spending habits as the reason for their money troubles. If schools were to begin paying players, they could also help these students build a foundation of financial literacy. This would allow them to introduce these students to financial investors who had their best interests in mind. Whether or not these college athletes went on to play professionally, they would at least, have some type of financial literacy to carry with them into whatever career they choose. This would (hopefully) set them up a better financial future." (Tiffany Patterson, “Should College Athletes Be Paid?) This quote talks about how paying them could help them financially in the future whether they go professional or not. They need to learn how to manage their money. A big part of being a professional is the money factor. Many professionals find their way into debt within a few years of playing professionally. If athletes are paid in college it might show and teach them how the whole money aspect of the game works and help to minimize their chances of doing the wrong thing

In today’s society money is everything. The common consensus is that the more money you have the better the you life is. Greed makes the world go round. Nowhere is this more prominent or obvious than in the world of sports. In fact one of the main problem with college sports, specifically the NCAA, today is that athletes are not getting an education, thus when they inevitably stop playing sports they often don’t fare so well in the real world. And why are they not getting educated? Money of course.

Athletes simply can’t fit a part time job around their hectic schedule of attending their sports training and practices while also keeping up with their classes and school work. This inability to hold a job leaves many college athletes in a murky situation. They don’t have time to hold a job and generate spending money for themselves, schools aren’t allowed to provide them much beyond the essentials of a scholarship--such as books, food, and room/board, and they aren’t allowed to sign endorsement deals or profit off of their own likeness in any manner. The NCAA is holding college athletes in a state of financial purgatory. To exemplify this point, Bill Plaschke, a writer for the Los Angeles Times, writes

Athletes risk hurting themselves every time they practice or play in a game. If they get knocked out or get a concussion, it could have a major affect on them for the rest of their life. Most the time when a player gets injured they get taken to the hospital just to be safe. A visit to the hospital can cost a lot of money, especially if they get injured again and then their insurance goes up. At the end of all that, the athlete has to pay a thousands of dollars for injuries alone. With what money are the athletes going to pay off their bills

A typical athlete story can now be known as a riches to rags story. Though there are positive and there are also negatives effects to this. Star athletes make so much money that it makes people sick, meanwhile it is also sickening our athletes mentally. The professional sporting world is now turning into a money-hungry occupation. Along with this hunger for cash comes a solid incentive for productivity.

Mike Tyson, a renown worldwide boxer, made over $400 million dollars in the span of his boxing career. However, before his retirement from the sport, Tyson had declared bankruptcy in 2003. Tyson was known to spend his match earnings on materialistic wants like jewelry, limousines and even a Siberian Tiger. Currently, Tyson has many debts to owe to many different people and companies. As he works with his bankruptcy lawyers, he will continue to decrease his debt as much as he can. The problem that Mike has and along with numerous other professional athletes is that they struggle financially and emotionally after they retire. It’s becoming notorious in the sport’s world that athletes’ lives seem to decline post-retirement. However, some know

From reading the book Money in Sports by Nick Hunter I learned about how money is one of the biggest parts of professional sports not only in the United States but in the entire world. Sports originally were not played for money but were simply played for enjoyment. Starting in the late 1700s the Industrial Revolution hit and sports became a huge source of entertainment and soon sports were played professionally. I learned that now athletes can make money many different ways like advertisements, endorsements, and media. The fans are really most of the part why these athletes are being paid so much. I also learned that it is not just the athletes that are being paid but the athletes agents and sports teams owners too. Some people look at buying