What’s the Game Plan for Advising Young Sports Stars?

The Super Bowl is this weekend, which means one thing: TV ads. OK, football and TV ads.

The commercials are as much a part of American culture as the game itself, and they’ll once again be packed with appearances from professional athletes. For today’s sports stars, the playbook is all about getting that bag both on and off the field. But, that can be a tricky balancing act even for experienced athletes. For young pros and college athletes — the latter of whom can now receive income directly from their schools in addition to name, image and likeness deals — the sudden access to massive amounts of cash and visibility can create real risks. Advisors are now taking on the role of second coach to help keep them financially grounded.

“Your brand as a rookie, coming into professional sports and even college, should be being a great teammate and winning games,” said Joe McLean, managing partner of sports and entertainment at MAI Capital Management. “With the next NFL draft, we caution players to not do a lot of commercials too early for fear that your teammates will think you care more about that than actually performing.”

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McLean played basketball for the University of Arizona in the 1990s. At the time, players were given student union cards for food and a small stipend of $2,500 for any extra purchases. “We’ve gone from not being able to afford a sports coat to now millions of dollars, potentially, in NIL money,” he told Advisor Upside. “The money now can either be a blessing or a burden,” he said. 

Because student athletes are still so young, advisors often need to be more involved in their day-to-day lives than with a typical client. Victor Sobers, who works with athletes, young and old, as vice president at Merino Sobers Wealth Management Group, said he helps clients organize their time in structured blocks, with the  largest portion devoted to school, practice and recovery. Another block is reserved for branding opportunities. The final block comes before major games or exams, when distractions must be minimized. 

Some students are making millions of dollars, while also cramming for tests:

• Last season, Texas Longhorns quarterback Arch Manning — nephew to Eli and Peyton — reportedly earned nearly $7 million in NIL money.
• It’s rumored that small forward AJ Dybantsa will earn a similar amount of money from NIL deals during this basketball season at BYU.

“The good thing is that these athletes are disciplined,” Sobers told Advisor Upside. “They just need someone to coach them in that area to make sure they don’t lose sight and don’t get that celebrity mentality or mogul vibe, where they feel they don’t have to go to class.”

Don’t Spend It All in One Place. Sobers also emphasizes incentives and accountability. If a student athlete meets bi-monthly savings goals from NIL income, it’s treated as a win, and they’re encouraged to enjoy some of the money. “We do micro luxuries with macro discipline,” he told Advisor Upside. “Some kids get it, some don’t. All you can do is give them the keys and put the right structures in place.”