MONEY BALL
Money Ball – Financial management in the sports industry, the vital points to know how to successfully manage your finances With professional sport becoming more and more lucrative it can be easy for industry professionals to spend your earnings in the moment and forget about the long-term. This raises the question of what the best and most efficient way to manage one’s finances is in order to maximise potential to get the best reward during and after their career. Since the introduction of televised sport and the advertising revenue that followed; professional sport has never been more lucrative and together with an increase in lottery funding, the world of sport has become more specialised than ever before; In the 70’s a professional cricket player would look forward to a cup of tea at lunch, whilst their modern-day equivalent has a tailored meal plan and rehydration drink to ensure maximum performance and competitive edge.
Taking cycling as another example; Team Sky take their own mattresses, duvets, and pillows for their riders on the Tour De France to ensure best night’s sleep during the 3 and half weeks whilst the race is on. Teams ensure that no stone is left unturned in the pursuit of excellence and the success that comes with it. Successful athletes are meticulous in every element of their professional career to ensure they perform to the highest standard in every appearance. Alongside this, the final piece of the puzzle is to ensure financial care is as valued as player care so that players are not only looked after during their careers, but that they are also able to create financial freedom into retirement too – whenever that might be. 32 | OTFF ISSUE 19 ★ APRIL 2022
What do David James, John Daly, Boris Becker, and Chris Eubank Snr all have in common? Despite a combined net worth of over £50million pounds, each of these athletes has been declared bankrupt during their careers. This means that despite staggering career earnings, they ran out of money at some point in their lives. These sports stars are most definitely not alone, and every single sport has an array of examples of ex high profile professionals that have fallen on hard times through mismanagement of their money. There are a few reasons why this might happen more specifically in sport; take a professional football player as an example, the average football career length is 15 years, whilst the average career length of non-professional athlete is 45 years in the UK which means that there is a much more concentrated time for them to earn well. Additionally, the average UK wage is £32,000 a year or
£615 a week. For a league two footballer they can expect an average salary £2,000 a week or £104,000 each year during their playing career. For a league one pro, the average weekly salary is £5,000 a week or £260,000 per annum, in the championship this rises to £8,500 a week or £442,000 a year and a premier league player could expect £56,538 a week or £2,940,000 a year. If a footballer’s career lasts 15 years and they are paid £104,000 as a league two professional for each year they play, they can expect total career earnings of £1,560,000. A non-professional athlete’s
