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How do these sportspeople make money?

ska invita

ska invita

back on the other side
Lets take womens hockey as one example, but Im thinking about all the sports.....lots of people in the first team, all the trainers etc.... god knows how many more not good enough to make it into the team. Who is paying them to do all this?
Presumably at the top levels its a full time job
 
ska invita said:
Lets take womens hockey as one example, but Im thinking about all the sports.....lots of people in the first team, all the trainers etc.... god knows how many more not good enough to make it into the team. Who is paying them to do all this?
Presumably at the top levels its a full time job
Click to expand...

In the UK - grants from government, the lottery and a bit of sponsorship. I think for a lot of them it's not a full time job though or very barely. Outside of the most popular sports and a handful of big names in others most aren't making much money at all.
 
If we’re at national levels of fiscal embarrassment which mean we can’t feed starving children, then perhaps we should stop spunking money on winning gold medals for aquatic BMX.
 
Lottery funding in this country probably allows some women’s hockey players to be professional, also I think a few play in foreign leagues (Dutch perhaps?) which are better funded

Otherwise, I would guess a mix of jobs in sports governance, PE teaching (a lot of private schools would value an international player in charge of their sports programme), coaching (private coaching market is huge in some sports), perhaps some are in the military and are granted sabbaticals
 
George Soros has shifted his money into breakdancing and frisbee now there's not the big street demos.
 
Monkeygrinder's Organ said:
In the UK - grants from government, the lottery and a bit of sponsorship. I think for a lot of them it's not a full time job though or very barely. Outside of the most popular sports and a handful of big names in others most aren't making much money at all.
Click to expand...

This is how Beth Shriever (BMX Racing) gets by. She’s only just moved out of her parents house last year I think.

There’s not a lot of money to be made.
 
Sport/exercise is good for society

This professional stuff is bread and circuses and high level sports people are dull and obsessive.

cui bono?
 
ska invita said:
Lets take womens hockey as one example, but Im thinking about all the sports.....lots of people in the first team, all the trainers etc.... god knows how many more not good enough to make it into the team. Who is paying them to do all this?
Presumably at the top levels its a full time job
Click to expand...

£13 million over 5 years from the lottery.

Average wage of hockey player around 19-26K.

Women and men get paid the same. It is claimed to be the most level playing field on gender of any sport.

They don't do it for the money.
 
In the UK, it's lottery money. If it's an Olympic sport and if there has been some past success in the discipline, then those associated with the Olympic team will get funding.

It is all done pretty ruthlessly. The performances of the competitors at this Olympics will affect the funding for the next cycle. If nobody does well, funding is cut. Generally, medals mean money.

Non-Olympic sports get nothing.

The term 'professional' never used to be used. 'Full-time athlete' was the stock phrase.

Outside the UK, who knows? It's going to vary hugely. Double-Olympic champion Irish boxer Kellie Harrington is a hospital cleaner. Here in the UK, pre-lottery, most Olympians had other jobs as well.
 
Silas Loom said:
Well, not without spooking the bond markets. Cutting off Team GB without a penny would be good performative stuff for a wannabe iron chancellor.
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And the medal count at the next Olympics falls through the floor. Not a popular move for any government. But that's why it's done through the lottery mechanism. Separates the issue from government accounts.

Thing is that the UK lottery funding system works on the terms it sets itself - consistently winning loads of medals.
 
Ive not seen much olympics this year, but I did see Cindy Ngamba " first refugee athlete to win Olympic medal " repping the Refugee Olympic Team - cant imagine her getting any money from anyone?
 
Some sports have financial rewards - the news said Keely Hodgkinson won 50 grand for coming first in the 800m. Think it might only be the major athletics events that applies to, though.
 
ska invita said:
thanks!
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I'd no idea it even existed until I heard a commentator mention it the other day.

Apparently she's been struggling to get UK citizenship despite having lived here since she was a child. Assume an Olympic gold medal will help with that. (Sounds like she should've been granted it years ago tbh.)
 
Sue said:
Apparently she's been struggling to get UK citizenship despite having lived here since she was a child. Assume an Olympic gold medal will help with that. (Sounds like she should've been granted it years ago tbh.)
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yes i heard that bit - imagined a life of limbo hell - "not eligible" for anything - sweet boxing story
 
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Elpenor said:
Lottery funding in this country probably allows some women’s hockey players to be professional, also I think a few play in foreign leagues (Dutch perhaps?) which are better funded

Otherwise, I would guess a mix of jobs in sports governance, PE teaching (a lot of private schools would value an international player in charge of their sports programme), coaching (private coaching market is huge in some sports), perhaps some are in the military and are granted sabbaticals
Click to expand...
This.

Kriss Akabusi was in the army, Rory Underwood RAF etc.

17 British Sports Stars You Didn't Know Served In The Military

There's more than you'd think...
www.forcesnews.com www.forcesnews.com

One of ours:

17. Rob Wainwright - A doctor in the Royal Army Medical Corps, he played rugby union for Scotland and captained his country on 16 occasions. A flanker (and handy amateur boxer) he also played for the British and Irish Lions. By the end of his career he had been promoted to major, before retiring from the Army and rugby in 1999. He and his family now run a farm and bed and breakfast on the Isle of Coll.
 
Outside of the big sports that attract sponsorship there's not much money. And you often need to show international success before you attract lottery/GB funding. And if you're injured often your funding will be cut if you're out of action for a number of months.

Phil Sesemann was a hospital doctor until recently, only his Adidas sponsorship has allowed him to cut it down to the minimum needed to keep his registration.

Weirdly sponsorship from big brands is more reliable than lottery funding. They often give you a 5 year contract with a guaranteed income & all the kit you can wear.
 
Buddy Bradley said:
Some sports have financial rewards - the news said Keely Hodgkinson won 50 grand for coming first in the 800m. Think it might only be the major athletics events that applies to, though.
Click to expand...

She'll be one that does make a lot of money off it now I'd have thought - not so much the £50k but she's probably the most recognisable winner coming out of the Olympics, individual high profile athletics event, good public image etc. She'll be getting into that celebrity endorsement area where companies want her to advertise their shoes and so forth.

That's very much not the case for most though, even the medal winners.

ETA: And that comes after winning not in the time leading up to it.
 
baldrick said:
Weirdly sponsorship from big brands is more reliable than lottery funding. They often give you a 5 year contract with a guaranteed income & all the kit you can wear.
Click to expand...

AIUI the thing with brand sponsorship is that it's really difficult to secure for those second tier borderline Olympian athletes. So your Keely Hodgkinsons will be fine, but below that they tend to go for people who have a big social media presence and are a bit more relatable for more 'normal' people, more influencer types almost, above those with athletic achievements. Someone who gets knocked out in the semis at the Olympics isn't as glamourous as the winners but is still miles out of reach for the average person so isn't a great advocate for your sportswear company.
 
Following on from the absolutely dismal performance in 1996 [Atlanta] it was noted that lack of funding & fragmentation played significant roles in the relative lack of medals and contributed to the 36th position in the final medal table [only gold was in rowing].
John Major instigated UK Sport in 1997 and that body distributes lottery funding.
Further investment in training facilities etc brings us to the better state we are in now.
 
Monkeygrinder's Organ said:
She'll be one that does make a lot of money off it now I'd have thought - not so much the £50k but she's probably the most recognisable winner coming out of the Olympics, individual high profile athletics event, good public image etc. She'll be getting into that celebrity endorsement area where companies want her to advertise their shoes and so forth.

That's very much not the case for most though, even the medal winners.

ETA: And that comes after winning not in the time leading up to it.
Click to expand...
And there is some money in elite athletics outside the Olympics. Not loads - you'll earn far more as a champion darts player - but there is prize money in the Diamond League, for example. Sports like skateboarding and surfing also have professional circuits.

But there are loads of Olympic disciplines in which there just isn't such a thing as a professional really outside national body funding. Since its expansion, the Olympics has become a curious mix of those struggling to get by alongside multi-millionaires from, say, golf or tennis.

There's no particular reason why there should be pros, though. You only get paid to do sports if there is a potential audience willing to pay to watch you or availiable to be advertised at by sponsors.
 
StoneRoad said:
John Major instigated UK Sport in 1997 and that body distributes lottery funding.
Further investment in training facilities etc brings us to the better state we are in now.
Click to expand...
But only in very specific sports. There's a reason we traditionally do well in a select few sports - I don't remember exactly which article I read about it, but this seems to cover the same ground:

www.theguardian.com

'Brutal but effective': why Team GB has won so many Olympic medals

Sports that have helped propel Britain up the medal table have been rewarded with extra investment while others have had their funding cut altogether
www.theguardian.com www.theguardian.com
 
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