Why Athletes Go Broke Essay

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Why Professional Athletes Go Broke? Young athlete’s main goal to attain is to become a professional athlete. Many want to become a professional athlete due to the money, others for the love of the particular sport that they are interested in. There is a downside in becoming a professional athlete, that many young players are not aware of. This downside is that professional athletes go broke faster than they are drafted into the leagues. Many professional athletes such as NBA and NFL players go broke due to career duration, overspending, family issues, and lack of finance knowledge. When trying to become a professional athlete, one must start playing sports as early as possible (Ferguson 34).Playing sports comes with many sacrifices. Athletes …show more content…

The ESPN documentary “Broke” explains that players made bad investments and made payments to relatives and friends only to see their money quickly disappear (“NFL Salaries”). An example of child support causing a professional athlete to go broke is that Travis Henry, a NFL player, spends $170,000 yearly on child support for nine children (“Why NFL Players Really Go Bankrupt”). This amount of money spent on child support, can put a significant hole in even the richest person’s pocket. Aside from child support, some athletes are left to the debt of divorce. Divorce puts a strain on individuals because not only do they have to give their spouse part of their belongings, but, they are also left with paying all of the legal fees ( “5 Reasons Why”). Last, but not least, supporting family members can cause a professional athlete to become broke. Family members of professional athletes feel like when the athlete goes pro, that the athlete should take care of them. Athletes that succumb to this end up losing a significant amount of their earnings. Luther Elliss, a player from the Detroit Lions, was over generous with his money by helping his family members pay for weddings and landscaping (“Why NFL Players Really Go Bankrupt”). Helping family members seem like the right thing to do, but professional athletes must be careful not to overdo