Aroldis Chapman of the Cincinnati Reds holds the record for the fastest pitch in baseball during a game. The radar gun clocked Chapman’s pitch at 105 mph against Andrew McCutchen of the Pittsburgh Pirates. Your arm is not as good as Chapman’s, and your career is also winding down. Retirement is just around the corner. While you didn’t get the mega-bucks deal of an Alex Rodriguez or a Roger Clemens, you will not be a pauper either once you’re done with baseball.
What are your options after playing the game?
Entrepreneurship
Ex-Boston Celtics Antoine Walker’s $110 million NBA earnings vanished. Allen Iverson of the Sixers suffered the same predicament.
Meantime, Alex Rodriguez has a UFC Gym franchise and a commentating gig for Fox Sports. He is also the CEO of A-Rod Corp. Magic Johnson continues to be part-owner with the Los Angeles Lakers. He owns several Burger King joints, T.G.I. Fridays, and other restaurants. Lebron James isn’t even retired and he already has his own production company (SpringHill Entertainment) and media company (Uninterrupted).
These are just some of the footsteps you could follow. One of the basic guidelines for knowing if you can be a good entrepreneur is to do something that you love or truly care about. Success will not happen if this isn’t the primary component of your effort.
Your Options
There’s plenty of options out there. You can coach or be part of a technical team. But here are some which you might consider.
- Creating Online Content. If you love to talk or teach about sports, probably the quickest way to reach an audience is the Internet. YouTube is one of the major tools used by savvy media personalities. The estimated return for using YouTube as a content platform ranges from $2,600 per month to upwards of $11 million per month. You earn by being an advertiser or advertising platform.
People around the world watch five billion YouTube videos every day. It will take a lot of work to get yourself into this mix, showcase your content and build your brand.
If you have a degree in communication or media, then Blogging and Podcasting are also ways to make online content. You earn money via Google AdSense or affiliate marketing. These endeavors, of course, need to be scaled up in a big way for you to realize significant earnings.
- Investments. Kevin Durant has investments in 30 companies including investment app Acorns. Another Kevin, Garnett owns a sports management company. This will be heavy on investment and you might dip your hands to the do-not-access-this-fund-level of your savings. But these give you the flexibility to do something that you love.
- Create Space. Your goal is probably to stay connected with your sport and then reach out to people. Tied to the concept of investment is the idea of creating a space that is run as a business. This could be a sports bar, where people can watch games together. This could be a gym facility, which could also double as a venue for regular events that you host and earn money from. You can run training camps at the gym or sponsor charity events. You could also rent it out to third parties for private events.
As in any enterprise, you need to find an advisor who’s not only smart but someone who you can trust. Remember to do what you love, and this can translate into an enterprise that you can lean on for years to come.
