01-13-2022, 09:36 AM
(This post was last modified: 01-13-2022, 02:16 PM by Asked Madden. Edited 1 time in total.)
Perhaps more than any other professional athletes, football players are notoriously challenged when it comes to wealth retention. While the fans see contract values of seven or eight figures, they fail to see the expensive weekly training and burdensome equipment costs that players are responsible for. It’s the intention of this guide to keep you out of the unemployment line and fully geared up for each and every season of your career. League veterans may find slightly less value from this piece than the rookie audience, but a financial refresher never hurt anyone.
Expenses
First and foremost, we should take a look at the average expenses of a player. While there is no firm requirement to purchase weekly training, those players who opt out of this training will find themselves falling behind more determined players. Full training costs one million dollars per week, with partial training at half that price. Players who wish to afford full training every week will burn through just about $10 million per season in training alone. (I’m assuming here that the season will be 10 weeks including offseason)
If this is your rookie season, you’ll want to pay close attention to your bank account to guarantee that you have funds available for training. It would be a shame for you to buy expensive equipment early in the season, only to miss out on one (or more) weeks worth of training while you rebuild your financial situation.
Speaking of equipment, that’s the second expense you’ll incur as a player in the league. Like training, equipment is optional but so helpful that you’d be silly to pass it up. Assuming you’ll be buying the top tier of equipment (highly recommended), it’ll set you back a cool $13.5 million.
This puts expenses of a maximum earner at $23.5 million. I would advise a player to generate income of $25 million every season as a starting point. You want a comfortable cushion of money in your bank account at all times during your career, at least $2 million to cover weekly training in the event of unexpected delay of payment or bank transactions. While it is technically possible to fall into a negative bank balance, it is a situation I suggest you avoid.
Revenue
Now that we have an idea of the expense that a player might incur if they are planning to max earn, we can discuss how to generate enough income to afford your necessities and still live the lavish jet-setting lifestyle of a professional athlete. There are several ways to earn around the league, and they each have their pros and cons. Each player will prefer some tasks over others, and there’s something for everyone.
Contracts. You’re a pro athlete, you get paid to do this. Your team will provide a salary to get you started for the season, but if you hope to max earn you’ll need to supplement substantially with other revenue streams. It takes literally zero effort and it’ll pay for a few weeks of training, that’s a win.
Twitter. This is an easy way to collect steady income for minimal effort, and it’s open to everyone, you just have to sign up. If you remember to send tweets every day of the week your three and a half minutes of effort will be rewarded with $800,000 deposited into your bank account. Assuming 10 weeks per full season, this task can net you $8 million per season, nearly one third of the $25 million goal we set above!
Media. Where Twitter is both easy and simple, writing media is simple, but not as easy. Media is a great revenue stream for people who enjoy creative writing, journalism, or talking to themselves. Pay is based on word count (or duration for podcasts) and there is no upper limit to how much you could earn through media. One of the biggest perks of writing media is that you’ll have a good idea of how much an article will earn before you submit it. Sometimes media will get graded mid-week too, which makes it the perfect candidate for those last-minute cash grabs to buy training before updates happen.
Graphics. If you have experience in photo editing, or if you’re interested in learning, graphics might be a perfect income for you. The learning curve and time investment can be steep here, but the pay is great. Motivated sig makers could pay for their entire season’s expenses in a single post.
Fantasy Football. Completing the fantasy draft each season gets you a payment of $1 million. It’s easy money that anyone can do. You’ll want to do this even if you’re not in it for the money, because there is potential to earn TPE too.
League Jobs. If you’re interested in getting more involved in the league, you can collect a salary by working for the league. Openings come and go, so check the job boards from time to time, and watch discord for announcements too. You’ll have to apply for the job and such, so if you urgently need training money, maybe write some media after you send in your application.
Casino. Super honesty time: the casino scares me. You can win money there, but you can also lose money there. I would recommend you rely on other methods to make your fortune - then you can go to the casino to gamble some of it, if that’s your thing.
Conclusion
You’re in a rare position here, people. Anyone outside the league would jump at the opportunity to earn numbers like these. It’s easy to sit back and collect contract payments, buy jet skis and party in Vegas, but it won’t last forever. Your long term success in the league is tied in part to your earning ability. Hall of Famers don’t declare bankruptcy, they build sustained, generational wealth to carry their career during the peaks and valleys in earnings that happen to everyone.
This concludes our Personal Finance for Professional Athletes seminar. Get out of my office, nerds.
Expenses
First and foremost, we should take a look at the average expenses of a player. While there is no firm requirement to purchase weekly training, those players who opt out of this training will find themselves falling behind more determined players. Full training costs one million dollars per week, with partial training at half that price. Players who wish to afford full training every week will burn through just about $10 million per season in training alone. (I’m assuming here that the season will be 10 weeks including offseason)
If this is your rookie season, you’ll want to pay close attention to your bank account to guarantee that you have funds available for training. It would be a shame for you to buy expensive equipment early in the season, only to miss out on one (or more) weeks worth of training while you rebuild your financial situation.
Speaking of equipment, that’s the second expense you’ll incur as a player in the league. Like training, equipment is optional but so helpful that you’d be silly to pass it up. Assuming you’ll be buying the top tier of equipment (highly recommended), it’ll set you back a cool $13.5 million.
This puts expenses of a maximum earner at $23.5 million. I would advise a player to generate income of $25 million every season as a starting point. You want a comfortable cushion of money in your bank account at all times during your career, at least $2 million to cover weekly training in the event of unexpected delay of payment or bank transactions. While it is technically possible to fall into a negative bank balance, it is a situation I suggest you avoid.
Revenue
Now that we have an idea of the expense that a player might incur if they are planning to max earn, we can discuss how to generate enough income to afford your necessities and still live the lavish jet-setting lifestyle of a professional athlete. There are several ways to earn around the league, and they each have their pros and cons. Each player will prefer some tasks over others, and there’s something for everyone.
Contracts. You’re a pro athlete, you get paid to do this. Your team will provide a salary to get you started for the season, but if you hope to max earn you’ll need to supplement substantially with other revenue streams. It takes literally zero effort and it’ll pay for a few weeks of training, that’s a win.
Twitter. This is an easy way to collect steady income for minimal effort, and it’s open to everyone, you just have to sign up. If you remember to send tweets every day of the week your three and a half minutes of effort will be rewarded with $800,000 deposited into your bank account. Assuming 10 weeks per full season, this task can net you $8 million per season, nearly one third of the $25 million goal we set above!
Media. Where Twitter is both easy and simple, writing media is simple, but not as easy. Media is a great revenue stream for people who enjoy creative writing, journalism, or talking to themselves. Pay is based on word count (or duration for podcasts) and there is no upper limit to how much you could earn through media. One of the biggest perks of writing media is that you’ll have a good idea of how much an article will earn before you submit it. Sometimes media will get graded mid-week too, which makes it the perfect candidate for those last-minute cash grabs to buy training before updates happen.
Graphics. If you have experience in photo editing, or if you’re interested in learning, graphics might be a perfect income for you. The learning curve and time investment can be steep here, but the pay is great. Motivated sig makers could pay for their entire season’s expenses in a single post.
Fantasy Football. Completing the fantasy draft each season gets you a payment of $1 million. It’s easy money that anyone can do. You’ll want to do this even if you’re not in it for the money, because there is potential to earn TPE too.
League Jobs. If you’re interested in getting more involved in the league, you can collect a salary by working for the league. Openings come and go, so check the job boards from time to time, and watch discord for announcements too. You’ll have to apply for the job and such, so if you urgently need training money, maybe write some media after you send in your application.
Casino. Super honesty time: the casino scares me. You can win money there, but you can also lose money there. I would recommend you rely on other methods to make your fortune - then you can go to the casino to gamble some of it, if that’s your thing.
Conclusion
You’re in a rare position here, people. Anyone outside the league would jump at the opportunity to earn numbers like these. It’s easy to sit back and collect contract payments, buy jet skis and party in Vegas, but it won’t last forever. Your long term success in the league is tied in part to your earning ability. Hall of Famers don’t declare bankruptcy, they build sustained, generational wealth to carry their career during the peaks and valleys in earnings that happen to everyone.
This concludes our Personal Finance for Professional Athletes seminar. Get out of my office, nerds.