On Tuesday evening, ESPN aired a documentary entitled “Broke” that sought to explain why so many professional athletes lose the millions that they make and are forced to file for bankruptcy years after they retire from pro sports leagues. One surprising takeaway from the sports documentary was a message of personal, fiscal responsibility that not only professional athletes, but young people in general should heed.
The documentary featured commentary from many professional and retired professional athletes, many of whom have fought through and are still dealing with financial woes. For example, former MLB pitcher Curt Schilling, former NFL quarterback Sean Salisbury, former NFL offensive lineman Leon Searcy, and former NBA small forward Jamal Mashburn all offer comments and anecdotes about the financial responsibilities thrust on young athletes.
Moreover, the program featured several financial advisors, business analysts, sports and business columnists, and divorce attorneys who share their own stories and opinions on the financial illiteracy of most professional athletes. Most notable perhaps is Michael Vick’s financial advisor Michael Smith, who warns big stars like the NBA’s Lebron James not to “blow it” with outrageous spending.
The documentary focused on the huge paychecks that athletes receive from their sports contracts, product endorsements, and sneaker deals, and shows how these multi-million dollar checks lead athletes to overspend on expensive cars, extravagant houses, tailor-made clothes, five-star dinners, and gambling trips.
The program stressed that athletes need to be able to trust those who advise them, like their financial advisors, agents, lawyers, and accountants. Because so many athletes enter the professional leagues young and are often from poor economic backgrounds, the players are financially illiterate and need responsible, trustworthy advisors to discourage them from making bad business investments.
According to the ESPN documentary, it’s not only the cars and houses that eat up professional athletes’ salaries; many athletes attract gold-digging women who want to spend their money. Additionally, athletes often lose money in divorce settlements when they don’t have prenuptial agreements, and they lose even more if they have to make child support payments.
Though professional athletes in the NBA, MLB, NFL, and other leagues rake in huge paychecks, their careers are always uncertain and unstable. They can be abruptly released from their respective teams, forced to retire because of injury, or face salary cuts because of lockouts.
ESPN’s “Broke” presented a valid case for the need for professional athletes to become more financially conservative, as it detailed many horror stories of athletes filing bankruptcy and spotlightedthe opinions of financial professionals like financial advisors and business analysts. The final credits of the documentary featured an impressive list of the professional athletes that have declared bankruptcy.
“Broke” runs an hour and a half on ESPN, and those interested in viewing the informative program should check out ESPN for repeat showings of the documentary.
