OWS overpaid sports figures - 78% of NFL players, 60% NBA players file bankruptcy within 2-5 years a

Are you kidding me?!?!?!?! Lets look at this another way:

28% of NFL players and 40% of NBA players DON'T file bankruptcy within 2-5 years after retiring.

Good grief. This is SOOOOOOO disgusting. Overpaid sports figures, some earning millions, can't figure simple economics.......don't spend more than you have. And despite the fact "the players have an active union, the NFL runs mandatory investment and money management seminars for all rookies, professional athlete insurance against injuries exists (and is even available to college players, with expected future earnings used as collateral),..." they are given detailed instruction on how to handle their finances, they fail. A goon and his money are soon departed.....wait a minute, that a FOOL and his money are soon departed.

I heard Michael Vicks is filing bankruptcy. I can't figure out if this is his second filing as I believe he filed before he went to prison. He evidently filed in September or August of this year. Still looking for confirmation on this. Pretty disgusting that these people are losing so much on bad decisions.


sports.espn.go.com...

"Filing for bankruptcy is a long-standing tradition for NBA players, 60% of whom, according to the Toronto Star, are broke five years after they retire. The other 40% deliver the Toronto Star."


marginalrevolution.com...

The 78 percent number (i.e., 78% of NFL players go bankrupt within two years of retirement) is buoyed by the fact that the average NFL career lasts just three years.


OWS - go get 'em.....BEFORE they file

Crazy, isn't it? Too many of these folks think that a sports job is forever, they think they'll play for 30 years making millions per year and then retire to a nice sportscasting position making more millions per year. Instead they play for a few years and then retire due to crippling injuries that leave them hobbling out of bed in the morning and popping pills to live with the pain. That might be OK if they lived modestly, but of course they have to have the free-wheeling lifestyle that society tells them belongs to sports celebrities, so they end their career with massive debt. Most of us can only imagine how much easier life would be with a million bucks in the bank, so it's hard to imagine how they can blow through it so fast, but they sure do.

reply to post by Gridrebel


It makes me glad there will be no NBA basketball this season, I'm a Laker fan and have been to many games at Staples but this has got to end. Owners can't make money and that's reason for the whole lock out. Player's need to take a huge pay cut, even bench warmers get somewhere in the hundred thousands a year. I say let them strike we have college sports where players don't get paid anything and play for an free education through scholarships.

I wonder if it is possible to calculate what percentage of the economy is propped up by irresponsible sports-figure spending...

i did some work for a guy who ran a landrover dealership and he told me that in the late 90's shaquille oneal came in and "financed" a range rover. the dude was making over 10 mil a season and he had to finance a $100k vehicle. that should tell you everything you need to know, and it wasnt as if he leased it, he bought it, using financing. I hate to say it and will probably get accused of being a racist or whatever, but it has got to be related to the black thug/hiphop/supermaterialistic persona these guys portray. you almost never hear about NHL players filing backruptcy etc etc

reply to post by Meekbot2000


It's not so much race as economic background. A lot of these guys come from very poor backgrounds and have no idea how to handle sudden gobs of money. It's not that they are unintelligent; it's just that they have no background to deal with it. Plus, they are under tremendous pressure to perform. Add to that what their buddies are buying and the need to keep up with Kobe, and you have a recipe for disaster. In those situations suddenly everyone is your new best friend and has some GREAT ideas on how you can invest your money. These guys may look and act tough, but they are walking targets.

The other thing about these guys is that they don't always have any other skills. If they've gone through college sports, you know their degree is a gift. The Athletic Department "expects" their athletes to pass and they exert considerable pressure on the academic crowd to make sure that happens. So when these guys get hurt at a young age, they don't really have a good education to fall back on--and no other skills. Most of them are not famous and can't milk their reputations, either. They're just big scary looking guys who walk with a limp.

On the other hand people who grow up with some money are taught how to preserve it. The large majority of people you may consider "rich" do not live in an ostentatious manner. You'd be surprised at how many people living next door and driving Hondas have several million dollars in the bank. They were taught prudence at an early age. Your average hockey player comes out of that middle class background.

I was surprised at the pictures of the GOP candidates' houses posted on here a few weeks ago. Except for Romney, who really is rich and Perry, who's living ion a mansion rented by the state of Texas, any one of those houses could be sitting in my neighborhood and never turn a head. My house is bigger than some of them. Huntsman's, IMO, is an eyesore. Cain's and Bachman's are typical middle class suburban development tract houses.

I know: "If only I had the opportunity to be stupid with money" But I still have some sympathy with some of them. They have really be set up for failure.

Who cares? They are "wrong" for having money and they are "wrong" for losing it.

Living that rockstar/rapper lifestyle gets expensive when you have an entourage of 10 friends that spend your money like it's theirs. I dont feel sorry for these people because all the schooling they need is at their fingertips. Maybe they should hire a financial advisor who knows what they are talking about.

oops double post.