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Business Insider
3 days ago
- Business
- Business Insider
Not all pro athletes get rich. We spoke with 4 who shared how they're securing their financial futures.
Most days, Anita Alvarez starts training at 6 a.m. She performs twists and lifts across the pool, holding her breath underwater for minutes at a time. While it paid off in the pool — she returned home to Los Angeles in the summer of last year with her first Olympic medal, a silver, in artistic swimming, formerly synchronized swimming — it didn't pay her bills. Earlier in Alvarez's 12-year swimming career, she worked at a sporting goods store to supplement the $250 monthly stipend she said she received from Team USA. Alvarez told Business Insider her stipend had since increased to $1,900 a month. But rather than adding to that with coaching gigs, teaching private lessons, or prize money as she's done in the past, she's joined the US Air Force's World Class Athlete Program. The program funds Olympic athletes' training in exchange for three years of military service after their Olympic careers. While the phrase "professional athlete" often evokes thoughts of multimillion-dollar contracts, red-carpet appearances, and lavish living, this type of stardom is often reserved for the upper echelon of male athletes in the MLB, NBA, NFL, and NHL. Many full-time athletes outside these leagues — and many of those within them — still struggle with finances. Careers in sports are often short, and some athletes come from families with little experience dealing with large sums of money. "It was stressful because you want to be so focused and dialed in on the Olympic training that we're doing, and that's not just the time we're at the pool," Alvarez, 28, said. She added, "But then, knowing that I had to leave after eight hours in the pool, I'm physically, mentally exhausted, and then I have to get out and rush to shower to run to make it to work on time." Four current and former professional athletes shared how they'd faced these uncertainties by prioritizing financial literacy, investing, and starting businesses of their own. A short window to make money A 2020 study published by the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health found that the average length of "maximum achievement until retirement" in terms of sports performance was 4.9 years for athletes in individual sports and seven years for those on teams. "Our career span and lifespan in the NFL is so short that by the time you've spent that money, it's super hard to get back," Sheldon Day, a defensive tackle for the Washington Commanders who's preparing to enter his ninth year in the NFL, told BI. "Most people don't understand the lifespan, and then they think the money's going to always be there." A 2022 analysis of player data by The Sports Daily found that on average, an NFL career lasted just 3.3 years. Athletes like Alvarez have a much longer window to earn, but the opportunities appear to be fewer. Alvarez, who's worked with brands including Skims and Tresemmé, said she usually sees brand deals and sponsorships pick up leading into the Olympics, but when the games end, the companies move on to whatever's next. Of course, the athletes aren't just training every time there's an Olympics. "It's not every four years," she said. "It's every single year that we're here training." A survey released in December by Parity, a sports marketing and sponsorship platform for professional female athletes, indicates Alvarez's experience of working while training isn't unique: Seventy-four percent of the 500 female athletes surveyed said that in the previous year, they had a job outside of being a pro. Planning for retirement while still in the game Angela Ruggiero was a star on the ice, medaling in four Olympics, including a gold medal in the 1998 Winter Games. Still, she knew hockey wouldn't be enough to financially support herself, especially in retirement. "It was tricky, but I think I always knew I was going to have to get a job being a female athlete and not making a ton of money as a pro," Ruggiero, 45, told BI. Ruggiero said that during her last Olympic cycle, from 2008 to 2011, she earned a base pay before bonuses of $2,000 a month from Team USA, in addition to endorsements from brands such as Coca-Cola and Nike. "I was 31 and wasn't saving money, whereas my peers who had had regular jobs were ahead of me financially, which is kind of crazy — I had a gold medal and four Olympics under my belt," she said. "But that's never why I did it. I never did it for the money. I did it because I loved the sport." It's a common experience among professional female athletes. Seventy percent of respondents in the Parity survey — which had representation from 55 sports — said it was "very likely" they'd need a new source of income when they retire from competition. For Ruggiero, part of the solution was investing. Later in her career, she asked Coca-Cola, one of her sponsors, to give her equity in the company, she said. When they gave her a check instead, she took a piece of it and bought stock in the company. The former NBA player Baron Davis, who is reported to have earned more than $140 million throughout his career, playing for 13 seasons across six teams, also had the forethought to invest his earnings. His first investment was with the then startup Vitaminwater, but it came with a condition. "The only ask was, 'I want to be on your marketing team or an advisor on your marketing team as a creative, so I can learn how to replicate a brand and its success,'" Davis, 46, said. "And that shaped my career to say, 'I can be my own agent. I can do my own deals. I can pitch to brands. I know what I'm capable of both on and off camera,'" he added. After those experiences, Davis said he felt better equipped to become an entrepreneur after he last played in the NBA in 2012. He created Baron Davis Enterprises, a holding company of his investments including content studios and a membership platform for people who work in sports, business, and entertainment. Similarly, Ruggiero used her sports background as a launchpad for her second career. After spending eight years with the International Olympic Committee, she cofounded Sports Innovation Lab, a data and analytics company focused on improving advertising, sponsorships, and fan experiences. "Sports Innovation Lab came from my experiences as a board member, a practitioner, someone that had gone to business school and studied disruptive innovation under Clay Christensen, and I'm looking at my industry going, 'We could be doing better if we had the insights,'" she said. Still, these career changes don't come without challenges. Davis said athletes could experience pushback in their second careers because they're athletes. "You have the ability to get into meetings or get into places based on your fame, your history, or your recognition," he said, adding that athletes are often asked to still prove themselves as entrepreneurs, investors, and C-suite executives. Helping the next generation of athletes Athletes are uniquely positioned to help others within their professions. Day, 30, watched as an NFL teammate spent money on cars, jewelry, and nights out at clubs, seemingly not considering that one day the paychecks would stop. After witnessing that teammate struggle financially while still in the NFL, he decided to do something about it. Alongside former NFL player Richard Sherman and a health and sports scientist named Tom Zheng, Day founded The Players Company, which seeks to help athletes with personal finance through education, networking, and community events. In 2024, the company partnered with Mogul Club, a real estate platform, to help players invest in real estate — something Day himself tapped into early in his pro career. "I jumped right in on the single-family real estate side, trying to give back to the city of Indianapolis where I'm from," he said. Day, who's earned $7 million so far during his NFL career, per the sports financial system Spotrac, has since incorporated commercial real estate into his portfolio, in addition to building homes in lower-income neighborhoods. Whether an athlete is handling millions of dollars or working second jobs, earning money is only half the battle. Knowing what to do with it is a separate challenge, and athletes ultimately need to figure out what they're saving for, Andrea Brimmer, a former varsity soccer player at Michigan State University, told BI. "You think about money in terms of how it can empower the things that you love or the people that you love the most in life, and it gives you a very different purpose in earning money," said Brimmer, who's now the chief marketing officer at the online bank Ally Financial. Ruggiero said money management should be emphasized more while athletes are still playing, not after they retire. "What we're told as athletes is: Eye on the prize. Win the gold medal. Win the championship," she said. "You're given all these amazing tools for the prize, the sports prize, which is great, but it doesn't always serve you." "Even in the NCAA, if you're a collegiate athlete and you're going to go pro the next year," she continued, "could you at least take a class over balancing your checkbook?"
New York Post
12-05-2025
- Sport
- New York Post
Team USA swimmer who nearly drowned during competition reveals surprising new career change
Team USA artistic swimmer Anita Alvarez, who nearly drowned at a competition when she fainted and sank to the bottom of the pool, has revealed her impressive new career chapter. The Olympic silver medalist fell unconscious just moments after completing her routine in the 2022 FINA World Championships in Budapest, with haunting viral images of her coach, Andrea Fuentes, diving into the pool to save her from the near-death experience. 4 Three years after a Team USA artistic swimmer nearly drowned when she went unconscious and sank to the bottom of a pool, she has revealed she graduated from basic Air Force training in January. Kurstyn Canida / USAF Now, three years since her brush with death, the swimmer has revealed she joined the Air Force as a recruit, People Magazine reported. Alvarez, 28, returned to swimming to help her team win a silver medal in the Paris 2024 Olympics, but the three-time Olympian, now known as 'Airman Alvarez,' graduated from basic training in January, the outlet reported. 4 After the near-death experience, Alvarez decided to embark on a new career prospect while continuing to train for future Olympic games. AFP via Getty Images She attended training at Joint Base San Antonio- Lackland and is now a member of the World Class Athlete Program (WCAP), made for Team USA athletes who want to join the forces while training. 'Being able to wear two uniforms and get to prepare full time for the next Olympics while also representing the US Air Force just seemed like something I couldn't pass up,' Alvarez told the outlet. She is the first medalist and 15th Olympian to join the special recruit program. 'It's a very cool opportunity,' Alzarez said. Her close call in 2022 led the Buffalo, New York, native to become even more disciplined as an athlete, she remarked. 4 She is the first medalist and 15th Olympian to join the special recruit program. 37th Training Wing '[The incident] blew up way more than I ever thought,' she said. 'But learning how those photos inspired people changed the way I looked at it.' The experience led Alvarez to feel she was at a crossroads in her career — and joining the Air Force felt like a logical next step. 'A lot of athletes struggle with the question of 'what's next?' when they think about the end of their career and try to figure out what they want to do in the real world,' she told the outlet. Though training took her out of the pool for a long stint, she said her time at the Texas base 'prepared me to return to my team as a better leader and a better person.' 4 Alvarez said her time training at the Texas base prepared her to be 'a better leader and a better person.' 37th Training Wing Alvarez has been practicing for the 2025 world championships in Singapore in July and plans on attending the 2028 Summer Olympics — but ultimately is looking forward to her continuing her Air Force career. 'I have aspirations to continue serving after [2028]. But right now, the passion for my sport is still there. I'd do it forever if I could,' she said. 'While I cherish my time as a professional athlete, it is also very exciting to have something to look forward to when that time is up.'
Time of India
12-05-2025
- Sport
- Time of India
Team USA swimmer Anita Alvarez, who nearly drowned in 2022, shares major health and life update
Image Credits: Alvarez breaks silence, reflects on near-death experience Anita Alvarez , the Team USA artistic swimmer who made headlines for nearly drowning during the 2022 World Championships in Budapest, has opened up about her health recovery and future plans. The 28-year-old athlete, who was dramatically pulled from the pool by her coach, Andrea Fuentes , after blacking out mid-performance, is doing 'better than ever' since the life-threatening scare. In an exclusive interview with People, Alvarez shared details about the harrowing moment when she lost consciousness in the water. 'I remember suddenly beginning to see light through my eyes and thinking 'Oh, I'm not breathing,' just as they were starting to put an oxygen mask on me,' she recalled. Despite the life-threatening experience, Alvarez remains determined to continue competing and achieving personal goals both in and out of the pool. From tragedy to triumph: Alvarez's unyielding spirit Alvarez's strength has been evident ever since that fateful day in Budapest. Following the near-drowning, Alvarez has made impressive strides, including her recent silver medal win at the 2024 Paris Olympics . 'I'm doing better than ever,' she said, further proving that the near-death experience hasn't set her back. However, the Olympic swimmer 's journey isn't just about synchro swimming anymore. Inspired by a new sense of purpose, Alvarez has pursued a new passion by joining the US Air Force through the World Class Athlete Program (WCAP), which allows top athletes to serve while continuing to train for Olympic competition. Image Credits: Instagram/Anitaaalvarez 'I just couldn't pass up the chance to wear two uniforms, representing the US Air Force while training full-time for the next Olympics,' Alvarez explained. She enrolled in basic training at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland and graduated from WCAP in January as the program's first gold medalist and the 15th Olympian it has supported. Looking ahead, Alvarez plans to continue her Olympic career, with the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles in her sights. Afterward, she intends to pursue a full-time career with the Air Force, blending her passion for athletics with her service to the country. 'While I cherish my time as a professional athlete, it's exciting to have something to look forward to when that time is up,' she added. Facing health struggles: Alvarez opens up about past medical episodes Before the terrifying ordeal in Budapest, Alvarez had already faced other health challenges. In 2021, during an Olympic qualifying event in Barcelona, she passed out after a duet performance. Her coach, Andrea Fuentes, had to dive into the pool to pull her out. Reflecting on that moment, Alvarez told NPR, 'I remember feeling like I was in a hamster wheel. Everything was spinning, then went dark. I woke up at the side of the pool and realized I'm at a competition. 'Wait, I am the competition.' Everyone's staring at me.' Following that incident, Alvarez underwent medical testing to identify any underlying health issues, though she admitted, 'Tokyo came up so fast, and I don't think I did the best job of being on top of it.' Despite some uncertainty, she pushed forward, making her way to the Tokyo Olympics . However, the incident in Budapest was far more dramatic. As photos and video footage showed, Alvarez was unresponsive and had to be rescued by Fuentes and a lifeguard. Fuentes later spoke out about the difficulty of the sport. In an interview with People , Fuentes explained, 'The sport is extremely hard. Sometimes people pass out. Our job is to discover our limits, that's what we do as athletes.' She further explained that Alvarez's incident was the result of pushing herself to her absolute limits, adding, 'It was her best performance ever, she just pushed through her limits and she found them.' Following the rescue, Fuentes reassured the public that Alvarez was okay once she was pulled from the water, explaining, "She only had water in her lungs; once she started breathing again, everything was okay." Alvarez herself shared that she was grateful for the outpouring of support, saying on Instagram that she was "OK and healthy," thanking fans for their messages of support. A bright future and the impact of her story Despite the terrifying images and the media frenzy that followed, Alvarez has taken an inspiring approach to the ordeal. 'It blew up way more than I ever thought,' she said, reflecting on the widespread attention the incident received. But Alvarez's perspective changed after learning how the photos of her rescue inspired others. 'Learning how those photos inspired people changed the way I looked at it,' she admitted. While she was banned from competing in the team final at the 2022 World Championships, Alvarez's courage and determination have remained unchanged. Just 48 hours later, she was back on track, earning her place on the team for future competitions. Her return to top form in the 2024 Paris Olympics, where she earned a silver medal, proved that the Budapest incident did not define her. Looking to the future, Alvarez is eager to return to training for the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. "It was the longest I'd ever been out of a pool" after her post-Olympic time in the WCAP, she said, but her passion for her sport is as strong as ever. 'I'd do it forever if I could,' Alvarez concluded, reaffirming her commitment to her career as a swimmer while also balancing her dual role as an Airman in the US Air Force.
Associated Press
09-03-2025
- Sport
- Associated Press
Del Duca's fourth-place finish for USA Bobsled at world championships fuels his appetite for more
LAKE PLACID, N.Y. (AP) — Frank Del Duca has some of U.S. bobsled great Steven Holcomb's tools in his possession. Actual tools, as in ones that Holcomb used to tune up his sleds when he was the world's best bobsledder. When Holcomb died, the tools made their way to Del Duca. And maybe there's still some magic in them. Del Duca matched his best finish in a major international race on Sunday, finishing fourth in the two-man world championship on USA Bobsled's home track at Mount Van Hoevenberg. He couldn't break through the German barricade atop the podium — Francesco Friedrich won, Johannes Lochner was second and Adam Ammour was third to lead a sweep of the medals — but Del Duca was right there all the way to the end. 'Really, really wanted a medal,' said Del Duca, who teamed with Charlie Volker to finish fourth, less than a quarter-second away from Ammour's bronze-medal time. 'I see where I gave up some time. And you just have to be perfect to duke it out with the Germans. They're a very strong program, top to bottom. And we're knocking on the door. But there's just a little more I need to do to be really, really fighting it out with them.' Del Duca is the pilot of USA-1, which makes him America's best men's bobsled hope right now going into an Olympics in 11 months. He's had top-10 finishes in 14 of his last 17 World Cup two-man races and now has back-to-back top-five finishes in two-man at the world championships. A big-stage medal hasn't come his way yet, but he's getting closer. 'It'd be nice to break that 1-2-3 German streak,' fellow U.S. men's pilot Kris Horn said. 'They're still ahead of us. But we're catching up quick.' Del Duca and Volker were fourth in all four of the two-man heats over the two-day competition this weekend in Lake Placid. 'It's lit a fire under all of us to know that we are here, duking it out with the best in the world — which means we're amongst the best in the world,' Del Duca said. 'And it's time to bring home some hardware and really put on a great race for the fans and everyone out here supporting us.' He's part of a long line of soldiers-turned-bobsledders. Del Duca is part of the U.S. Army and its World Class Athlete Program, which has helped support U.S. sliders for years. He calls it a dual privilege to wear the U.S. colors both as a soldier and a slider. 'It's probably the biggest honor I've had,' Del Duca said. 'It's something I'm incredibly grateful for. I don't take it lightly. It's an opportunity. And it's also an obligation to represent the country, the team, my family, friends, the organization, everyone I've associated with and everyone that's helped me get here.' ___
