PARIS — Being an Olympic athlete within the U.S. shouldn’t be solely bodily arduous, however financially expensive.
A latest report revealed 26.5 % of high-performance American athletes earn lower than $15,000 a yr, in line with “Passing the Torch” by the Fee on the State of the U.S. Olympics & Paralympics.
One other 10 % earn between $15,000-$25,000.
“Solely 50% of all responding high-performance athletes reported any compensation associated to their sport, and of these solely 11.5% acquired sponsorships,” mentioned Han Xiao, the fee’s co-chair and a former member of the nationwide desk tennis workforce. “Most athletes stay off of some mixture of stipends, prize cash, help from household or companions, and salaries from different forms of work.”
The price of competitors at a world-class stage – journey, lodging, gear, charges – can be extraordinarily excessive. Olympians spend a mean of $12,000 yearly on associated prices.
Some American Olympians sleep in a automotive or try and get by with out adequate meals and vitamin or sufficient medical insurance, the report discovered.
“This Olympic cycle has been worse than ever,” mentioned Brant Feldman, an agent with American Group Administration who represents plenty of Olympic athletes like water polo’s Maggie Steffens and swimmer Paige Madden. That’s as a result of there are fewer endorsement alternatives, Feldman added.
“They might be promoting a whole lot of adverts, nevertheless it simply hasn’t trickled all the way down to the athletes,” Feldman mentioned. “Athletes stay on these endorsements, and they’re ravenous for offers.”
Consequently, the price of surviving typically finally ends up occurring plastic.
Considered one of Feldman’s former purchasers, as an illustration, couldn’t pay a fee immediately as a result of he had run up $41,000 in credit-card debt – masking not simply himself, however fellow workforce members as effectively.
“The quantity of tales I’ve personally heard about fellow athletes working up bank card debt are too many for me to depend,” mentioned Xiao.
Listed below are some the reason why athletes discover themselves in such a monetary gap: Olympic committees and sport governing our bodies are sometimes cash-strapped themselves; corporations are reducing athlete sponsorships and the U.S. lacks a strong nationwide funding system, which is the norm in competing international locations.
Consultants advise present and future Olympians that till the system undergoes actual change, athletes have to be hyper-focused on seizing this once-in-a-lifetime second in Paris.
GET QUALITY REPRESENTATION
To be among the many greatest athletes on this planet requires 100% focus – which implies that your bandwidth for dealing with the books is proscribed. And if a well-meaning mother or father helps out with the enterprise finish, they won’t have the know-how or community to take your profession to the subsequent stage.
“Have good illustration to search for sponsorship alternatives for you and to look out on your pursuits if you enter into agreements with sponsors and sport federations,” advises Xiao. “Being an athlete and being an agent are full-time jobs, and it is actually laborious to do each issues very well.”
DEVELOP YOUR BRAND
You would possibly suppose that being among the many world’s greatest athletes is adequate to get cash rolling in, however that’s not sufficient. You might want to work in your private model by maximizing social media presence.
“To me, the athletes who do not love to do social media are in hassle,” says Feldman. “Even if you happen to’re solely good on one platform, like Instagram or TikTok, it is advisable to be posting content material as a lot as you’ll be able to.”
Additionally make it possible for companies can contact you and get fast responses, by offering the e-mail handle of your agent in your bio.
Manufacturers typically attain out by direct message on Instagram or TikTok.
“If they do not get a response, they only transfer onto the subsequent athlete,” Feldman says.
ACT FAST
For a brief interval, the eyes of the complete world shall be on you. However that won’t final.
“As soon as the Olympics finish, we’re heading into the primary weeks of school soccer, into NFL exhibition video games, into baseball pennant races,” Feldman says. “If an athlete goes out and medals in Paris, you want somebody inside 72 hours in your facet hyping you immediately… If you have not gotten offers inside 60-90 days, you could have blown your window.”
–Reuters, Particular to Discipline Degree Media