I would to first start out by asking … Who here in this room can guess the percentage of NFL athletes that end up going bankrupt after their playing career?
78 Percent. Yes. 78 percent of all professional football players end up either bankrupt or on the bring of bankruptcy. The NBA is not much better at an astounding, 60 percent. In this article written by Jason Daley, he discusses how one particular player, Jamal Mashburn became one of the 22 percent that did not have money issues after his playing career. The plan was simple. Invest. More specifically invest in franchise companies such as Papa Johns, Chili’s, and Dunkin Donuts.
A quote that stuck out to me in this article was:
“Athletes are executors. You follow prescribed movements put together by a coach and organization to win a ball game. In franchising, you have the game plan and business model put together by the franchisor. Like an athlete, the operator has to come in and execute the plan.”
This quote is a great synopsis to the entire article. It mentions the success of athletes such as Venus Williams (Jamba Juice…Washington DC) Keyshawn Johnson and Reggie Bush (Panera Bread….California) as well as Milwaukee Bucks player Junior Bridgeman who has an empire of franchises in the area which include 162 Wendy’s and 121 Chili’s that bring in an average annual revenue of 507 million dollars per year.
Franchisors… The owners of the franchise businesses also see great potential in pro athletes from a business perspective for a few reasons. 1. They are famous and therefore already have a following ( built in marketing buzz ). 2. They have the large amount of cash pool available for investments (rather than financing to someone