The Truth About Athlete Finances

For over a decade, one statistic has shaped the public’s perception of athletes and money.

In 2009, Sports Illustrated released an alarming claim: 78% of NFL players go broke within five years of retirement. To this day, I’ve yet to see any research, methodology, or source material that substantiates that figure.

Still, it’s been repeated in documentaries, financial education programs, sports podcasts, and marketing decks. What’s almost always missing is context, follow-up, or nuance.

And in a world where headlines spread faster than facts, that lack of depth has deeply influenced how we talk about athletes—and what we believe they need.

That stat became a rallying cry. A warning sign. A marketing tool. And over time, a deeply flawed starting point for solutions.

One unintentional consequence? The athlete has become a caricature. You’re either the financially irresponsible cautionary tale or the once-in-a-generation unicorn who defied the odds and built a portfolio that rivals a venture capitalist’s.

The Truth Lives in the Middle

Both narratives attract attention. Neither reflects the lived experience of most athletes.

Athletes aren’t all blowing millions on Bentleys and bad business ideas. But they also aren’t flipping real estate and launching investment syndicates by their second year in the league.

Most live in the middle—navigating an abrupt and compressed career cycle, trying to make responsible decisions in real time, and managing complex emotional, social, and financial dynamics with very little margin for error.

The reality is simple, but often ignored: athletes face the same financial challenges as any other young professional.

The difference? Their careers start earlier, peak faster, and end before most people even hit their stride.

You're managing large, uneven income streams in your early 20s, with limited experience, minimal preparation, and under a spotlight that adds pressure to perform—on the field and in your portfolio.

And when it’s over, you’re not just transitioning into a new phase of life. You’re trying to navigate the psychological whiplash of going from a top 1% income earner to finding a role that pays even 20% of what you used to make—while the world still expects you to show up the same way you did when you played.

Financial Education Is Proximity-Driven

Financial outcomes are often more about access and exposure than aptitude.

For athletes, it’s no different. If you’ve never seen wealth managed effectively—or been taught the tools to do it yourself—the expectation that you’ll become a skilled investor or strategic allocator of capital in your mid-20s is unrealistic at best.

The traditional financial education most athletes receive is reactive. It’s positioned as damage control, not preparation. And when it does come, it’s usually too late, too generalized, or too fear-based to be useful.

What’s rarely acknowledged is that financial literacy is deeply personal. It’s shaped by your upbringing, your environment, your fears, and your aspirations. And it must be taught and learned in ways that speak to all of those.

For many athletes, the biggest obstacle isn’t intelligence—it’s the gap between their lived experience and the world they’ve been dropped into.

It’s a world where—regardless of the personal intent of those around you—the business model for most service providers depends on extracting value. That’s not cynicism. It’s just how the system is structured.

A System in Need of a Reset

Let’s zoom out. The entire financial support ecosystem built around athletes was designed for outliers.

It assumes long careers, stable cash flow, and an appetite for long-term risk. It rewards large assets under management and incentivizes allocation decisions that may look great on paper—but rarely reflect the instability of an athlete’s earning curve or post-career liquidity needs.

Most financial advisory models are built to manage wealth—not to help someone build and sustain it while navigating volatility.

Athletes are often advised to invest like they’re a 40-year-old executive, when they’re really in their mid-20s—with no guaranteed income, unpredictable career timelines, and no clear roadmap for what’s next.

Too often, the support provided is inversely proportional to the complexity of the situation. Athletes with smaller contracts, shorter careers, or less perceived “upside” receive the least attention—even though they’re often the ones who need the most strategic guidance.

What Does Success Actually Look Like?

Let’s be honest: we’ve set the wrong bar for financial success.

The media loves the story of the athlete who turned a $5 million angel investment into $200 million. But what’s rarely mentioned is that very few people—athlete or not—have the capacity to write a $5 million check, let alone into a single angel investment.

At the same time, we ignore the quieter story: the athlete who earned $1.2 million over four years, managed it conservatively, and transitioned into a second career without taking on debt or compromising their values.

One of those stories is more common—and far more instructive.

Success should be defined by what you learn, what you build, and how you position yourself for long-term stability—not short-term optics.

If we want to create more sustainable outcomes, we need systems that serve the middle ground. That includes:

• Advisors designing income and investment strategies that reflect inverted earning curves

• Creating financial education environments that are empathetic, not performative

• Leagues and unions offering support that values lived experience over credentials

Who Benefits from the Old Narrative?

The extremes sell. They generate clicks, headlines, and docuseries.

But they also preserve a tired system—one where athletes are viewed as liabilities to be protected from themselves, or assets to be extracted for someone else’s gain.

And it’s not just the athletes who lose.

Advisors miss the chance to provide real value. Institutions build models that don’t fit the people they claim to serve. And future generations inherit the same flawed playbook—just with more commas.

That’s one of the reasons I ultimately left financial services.

I once received an email that was mistakenly forwarded to me by someone in my office. It was from compliance to my supervisor.

It was a preemptive and unprovoked warning to “Keep a watchful eye on his activities away from the firm” and “Give special attention to his emails and employee cash activity reports.”

That email told me everything I needed to know about how the industry sees former athletes. Not as professionals. Not as peers. As risks.

My own firm was waiting on me to fail. So it was time to leave—and that email became the catalyst.

Closing Thoughts

For athletes:

You don’t need another seminar that tells you what not to do. You need a real strategy that fits your reality. Start here:

• Track your lifestyle. Know what it costs to live well—and adjust early.

• Redefine success. Longevity beats lifestyle. Build to sustain, not impress.

• Lead with identity. Make decisions aligned with who you want to become, not just who you are today.

• Find trusted support. A thinking partner can help you make moves—not just react to them.

For the service providers who truly want to help:

If your work is rooted in helping—not harvesting—here’s how to start:

• Honor the career arc. Build flexible strategies for short careers and long lives.

• Teach, don’t talk down. Education builds trust—and better outcomes.

• Be clear about how you’re paid. Transparency earns respect.

• Stick around. Athletes need consistency when the spotlight dims.

Changing the future of athlete financial support won’t be about knowing the market—it’ll be about learning the person behind the platform, the paycheck, or the public persona.

Because when athletes are seen, supported, and empowered in the middle—not just the extremes—that’s when real, sustainable success becomes possible.

Ready to take the next step?

Whether you're pivoting careers, scaling your business, or redefining your next chapter, I help growth-minded professionals and organizations turn potential into sustainable success.

🚀 Learn more about my Thinking Partnership program →
Work with me 1:1 to uncover blind spots, build clarity, and create a personalized game plan that positions you for uncommon performance.

🛠️ Book me as a speaker or facilitator for your organization →
Looking to energize your team or leadership group? Book me for a custom session that delivers real results that move the needle.