Tag: Forbes

Marketing Money for NFL Players

By Justin VanFulpen

When it comes to off the field marketing dollars for NFL prospects or players there isn’t a lot of money or opportunities compared with the amount of players or prospects.  In terms of marketing the dollars and opportunities go to the skill players (Quarterbacks, Running Backs and Wide Receivers) and some top level defensive players.

NFL Players Inc., the licensing and marketing arm of the NFLPA has done a nice job getting group licensing deals done that involve all current active NFL players.  They work with companies like EA Sports the does the popular Madden Football Video game and many other companies.

There are some more standard marketing deals that get done:

  1. Shoe and Apparel – Nike, Under Armour (Both companies licensed by Players Inc.)
  2. Trading Cards – Panini, Topps (Both companies licensed by Players Inc.)

But then there can also be some more creative deals to make dollars like getting paid to “Tweet” working with a company called Opendorse that is licensed by Players Inc. and the value of your “tweet” depends on how many Twitter followers you have.

Our a player can make additional money by having their own online t-shirt store with another licensed Players Inc. company 500 Level.

But be careful not to be fooled about how much money NFL players make off the field, it might not be as much as you think.  According to Opendorse Top 100 Highest-Paid Athlete Endorsers of 2016, which used Forbes World’s Highest Paid Athletes as their resource – here are the top 15 paid NFL players in terms of endorsement earnings.

  1. QB Peyton Manning – $15,000,000
  2. QB Drew Brees – $12,000,000
  3. QB Cam Newton – $12,000,000
  4. QB Russell Wilson – $10,000,000
  5. QB Tom Brady – $8,000,000
  6. QB Eli Manning – $8,000,000
  7. WR Demaryius Thomas – $1,200,000
  8. WR Julio Jones – $1,200,000
  9. LB Luke Kuechly – $1,000,000
  10. WR Dez Bryant – $500,000
  11. WR AJ Green – $500,000
  12. QB Joe Flacco – $500,000
  13. QB Philip Rivers – $500,000
  14. QB Sam Bradford – $300,000
  15. TE Zach Ertz – $200,000

So just know that just because a player is in the NFL doesn’t mean that he is making a ton of money off the field in endorsements.  Yes there are ways to be creative and find different avenues for off the field dollars but the main part of a players income will come from his contract with his team.

Financial Advisor: Role on a Pro Athletes Team

By Justin VanFulpen

The new show “Ballers” on HBO depicts Dwayne Johnson as Spencer Strasmore, a retired athlete turned financial advisor. If you have been watching the show, you have seen that financial advisors have a large role in a professional football player career just like their agent does.  College Football players are recruited just as much by financial advisors as they are by agents.

Financial Advisors are a very valuable asset to a professional athlete’s career and can help an athlete take his earning during his playing career and set him up for the rest of his life and his career after football.  Since professional athlete earnings situation as well as their taxes is different than normal situations they need someone on their team who can advise them in the right direction in all aspects of their financial wellbeing.   Players need to pay attention just as much as who they select to be their financial advisor as they do who their agent is, if not more since they will be dealing with their money and assets.

Forbes recently wrote an article “How To Select A Financial Advisor”

One thing to find out about a potential financial advisor is he/she a broker/ registered rep; or an investment advisor?  When looking at compensation for the financial advisor services a broker may charge commissions or fees. An investment advisor will be fee-only or fee for advice.  You can check out the article to see what the differences are.

Some other great questions to ask the potential financial advisors are:

Does the advisor work for a large firm or is he independent?

Does the advisor receive sales commissions, fees, or both?

Does the advisor have experience with the specific issues concerning the client?

Does the advisor have any past or current legal infractions?

With a financial advisor being part of a professional athlete team, time and care is need to make the right choice.