We’ve all heard the grim statistics about broke post-career athletes– 78% of retired NFL players are broke or experiencing severe financial stress after just two years. The NBA isn’t much better with an estimated 60% broke within five years.
Most athletes, when they’re just starting their sports career, say that fame and fortune will not affect them – they swear they will remain the same humble, lovable darlings as they were during childhood when they played on obscure mud fields.
What happens on the journey from obscure to stardom? One must take into account inflated incomes and egos, and the fact that athletes trust unscrupulous, suited up, slick-talkers without doing due diligence. Blind investing and irresponsible squandering of financial resources lead to post-career athletes’ demise very rapidly.
Although pro athletes make a good haul in multi-million dollar incomes, they are all just one play away from a career-ending injury. Just ask Joe Theisman. One snap…one tackle…one wrong fall…career over. Some blame the hectic demands of the season schedule and naivete about financial planning while others point to players believing there will be just one more contract extension to fund their exorbitant lifestyles. [click to continue…]
Michelle Hill, the Strong Copy Quarterback for Winning Proof, is a sports and fitness copywriter. My mission is to help pro athletes, coaches, and sports agents increase their success score in their entrepreneurial endeavors with my writing expertise and creative turn of mind.I write website content, client letters, media pitch letters, sponsorship proposals, and brochures for sports-related companies. www.winningproof.com
With all of the hype surrounding around Ian Thorpe’s comeback, you might have missed the latest announcement of another former Australian ‘super-fish’ Michael Klim returning to the Aussie swim team for London.
At 33, he is a three-time Olympian who started his own range of skincare products after announcing his retirement in 2007 (when he was still the World Champion.)
Although Klim’s medal count isn’t as impressive as Thorpe’s, he is significantly older than Thorpe and there are many questions surrounding his comeback. A devout family man who is expecting his third child this year,Klim will be running/ promoting a business and balancing family life all the while training full time and competing overseas in his bid for a fourth Olympics.
Is it money, boredom, success or just the desire to be recognized again that drives so many ‘retired’ professional athletes back to the arena? What’s the real motivation? [click to continue…]
Claire Kelly is a freelance writer, communications consultant and Australian beach volleyball player based on the Gold Coast, Australia.
Experienced in social media marketing, conducting interviews, ghostwriting, editing, generating publicity and photography, Claire is passionate about about helping athletes and businesses grow through the power of the media and the internet. Follow Claire on Twitter @clairelkelly
In working with pro athletes both current and retired, I’ve made a few discoveries along the way from my clients. Basically, working with pro athletes, specifically NFL athletes, requires the same principles and ethics as needed for any other client. If you are currently working with, or have aspirations to work with, pro athletes in any sport, here are a few industry secrets I’ve learned and regularly practice in my own business:
1. Quote Fairly
Just because an athlete made it to the pro level doesn’t mean they have unlimited resources. More often than not, as a retired athlete, they’re struggling to make their business work like everyone else. Don’t quote in the stratosphere because you think he’s Mr. Money Bags.
2. Be Professional
Don’t act like a silly fan with over-the-top flattery. If you gain a pro athlete as a client, even if they’re your very favorite player of all time, tell them professionally and politely that you admire their work and move on. [click to continue…]
Michelle Hill, the Strong Copy Quarterback for Winning Proof, is a sports and fitness copywriter. My mission is to help pro athletes, coaches, and sports agents increase their success score in their entrepreneurial endeavors with my writing expertise and creative turn of mind.I write website content, client letters, media pitch letters, sponsorship proposals, and brochures for sports-related companies. www.winningproof.com
I’ll warn you now this isn’t one of my typical articles, if you’d like to read about how sports can utilise social media, I’m sorry to disappoint you (this time), but I feel sometimes we need to take a step back from social media and remember exactly why it is we love sport so much. This is simply an article to say thank you to a sporting icon and a true England legend.
Growing up in England, football was my first love and David Beckham was my first sporting idol. Last night it seems Fabio Capello called time on Beckham’s extraordinary England career when he said “I thank [David] very much for helping me at the World Cup but probably he is a little bit old.”
Even though Beckham has always come back stronger whenever he’s faced adversity or been dropped in the past, even as his biggest fan, I would admit that it’s hard to see him coming back this time. [click to continue…]
Ash is the co-founder of FundSport.com a grassroots sports community providing sports clubs and athletes from around the world with professional, easy-to-understand advice and articles on all aspects of grassroots sport including sponsorship, fundraising, the Internet, social media, club management, PR and marketing. As well as being passionate about the development of grassroots sport Ash also has a keen involvement in the sports social media industry. You can follow Ash on Twitter at @ashread14
From the National Football League to the National Basketball Association, professional sports organizations and their athletes are realizing that they could have a positive influence when it comes to getting kids to move off the couch and onto playgrounds and in organized physical education.
Newest to the anti-obesity team isBoston Celtics forward, Paul Pierce, and a coalition of elite athletes from eight different sports who raise funds to fight children’s obesity as part of an effort called ‘nPLAY. A government tax exempt 501(c)3 organization, ‘nPLAY’s primary focus is to financially support physical education and activity programs in low income areas which statistically suffer the highest rates of childhood obesity in the United States.
Twenty years of public relations experience, including 10 in NCAA Division I sports information during which she received national awards for her work, have helped Gail Sideman emerge as a nationally-respected publicity professional in sports, social media and publishing. She is also a veteran support staffer of sports television crews for events that include the NFL, NBA, MLB, NCAA regular and postseason and others. You may learn more information about Sideman's business at www.publiside.com or follow her at www.twitter.com/PUBLISIDE and www.facebook.com/gail.sideman.
Super Bowl XLIV is a mere memory now. Faint echoes of “Who Dat” ring in our ears. We’ve seen a Brees blow through and we’ve seen the burning Bush. For fans, the season is over and we’re wondering what to do on Sunday afternoons. We could relive the season by watching games of our favorite teams on DVD but it just doesn’t hold the same magic. We could spend our days anticipating the draft or go on a hot wing fast in defiance of another season ending. We could turn our attention to other sports but football is football.
Michelle Hill, the Strong Copy Quarterback for Winning Proof, is a sports and fitness copywriter. My mission is to help pro athletes, coaches, and sports agents increase their success score in their entrepreneurial endeavors with my writing expertise and creative turn of mind.I write website content, client letters, media pitch letters, sponsorship proposals, and brochures for sports-related companies. www.winningproof.com
Athletes in trouble. We see it every day in the news and find ourselves wondering aloud, “Wow. Did they really just say/do that?”
The vast majority of athletes will face a crisis of some proportion during their career or post-career. How they handle it is everything, and who manages them through it plays a major factor in the outcome, hence the need for true strategic communications professionals (i.e., seasoned PR people) on their team of advisors.
Too many athletes rely on less than qualified “handlers” to counsel them through the eye of the storm of controversy. They are foolish enough to follow the non-expert advice of, “We can handle this. Here’s what we’ll say/won’t say and this is what we’ll do. This will blow over.” Their reactions and responses will range from avoidance, vehement denial, finger pointing, and… the answer that is really not an option, “No comment.” Bad advice or no advice, we’ve seen it all too often and athletes are left wishing they could do it over again. Ask Tiger. Ask Roger Clemens. Ask Gilbert Arenas. Take your pick. There are hundreds of case studies in what NOT to do.
It’s no surprise professional athletes are using social media sites like Twitter, Facebook, and even Ustream everyday. Being an ex pro athlete myself (even on a smaller scale than the NFL) I loved connecting with my fans before and after games.
I had my regular group of fans that would come down by the field and say hi after every game. If I would have had Twitter back then, it would have given me a great opportunity to thank them online, and get them excited about the next game.
Although I didn’t know how important building a personal brand online was during my playing days, I definitely see the value of it now for helping me achieve a number of my professional goals.
Want to know why pro athletes should be building their personal brand online and how they should be doing it? Then make sure you check out this video where I interview Dan Schawbel of Personal Branding Blog to learn more.
What ways do you see pro athletes using social media the right way? How are some using it the wrong way? More importantly, how does it make you feel when you see a high profile athlete doing things “right” or “wrong” online?
It is unlikely for the Marlins to make news in January. Usually they handle their in-house business around this time of year. Trying to keep guys like Hanley Ramirez and Josh Johnson are priority number one for this so called small market team. However, this past week, the players union and the Florida Marlins have reached an agreement for this cellar dweller franchise to up their payroll. I guess the one big question can now be asked; did baseball just wake a sleeping giant?
For as far back as we can remember, the Marlins are a draft and trade team built on their pitching and a few scattered all stars in the lineup. Just look at their championship teams. The 1997 team had up and coming stars like Gary Sheffield, Edgar Renteria, Moises Alou and a few others, but they won because of their pitching. With the likes of Kevin Brown, Al Leiter, and Livan Hernandez anchoring their rotation they were obviously good enough to go all the way. The same argument can be made for their 2003 campaign. This team supposedly won by accident. Or did they? Once again they did it with budding stars on the field like Juan Pierre, Derek Lee, Mike Lowell, and Luis Castillo who was there for both titles. Yes they had the leadership of Ivan Rodriguez, but that wasn’t why they won. They won again with a rotation that when healthy went five deep. Josh Beckett, A.J. Burnett, Brad Penny, mid-season call up and phenom Dontrelle Willis, and yes Carl Pavano, were the biggest reasons why the 2003 Marlins won the World Series.
So many conversations of the last year, and certainly beyond, have focused on huge dollar figures that go along with professional sports and their high-paid, spoiled athletes.
During this past week, players from across the professional sports spectrum who are often portrayed as being little more than indulgent have shown quite the opposite personas. They have let their checkbooks act as their PR agents but most importantly, have proven that humanity comes first. The devastation of the 7.0 Earthquake that hit Haiti on January 12 was on the world’s minds and many who could afford to help, have done so.
Twenty years of public relations experience, including 10 in NCAA Division I sports information during which she received national awards for her work, have helped Gail Sideman emerge as a nationally-respected publicity professional in sports, social media and publishing. She is also a veteran support staffer of sports television crews for events that include the NFL, NBA, MLB, NCAA regular and postseason and others. You may learn more information about Sideman's business at www.publiside.com or follow her at www.twitter.com/PUBLISIDE and www.facebook.com/gail.sideman.
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We’ve all heard the grim statistics about broke post-career athletes – 78% of retired NFL players are broke or experiencing severe financial stress after just two years. The NBA isn’t much better with an estimated 60% broke within five years.
(This is a guest article by Wesley Mallette)
So many conversations of the last year, and certainly beyond, have focused on huge dollar figures that go along with professional sports and their high-paid, spoiled athletes.
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