If you think that you can easily become a millionaire by becoming an athlete who is active on the field. As long as you are good at the sport you are playing, you can easily rack in millions. Of course, for most sportsmen or athletes being on the field is not their only source of income. In fact, for many of them, they are able to bring in more money off the field than on it.
If you have the fame of being an elite sportsman in your field of sport, then you are set for life. Today we bring you a list of athletes who were able to make more off the field.
1. Tim Horton
Tim Horton is a great example of elite athletes who only got their bank accounts flourish even more from business opportunities than by being on the field. If you are into sports then you would probably know that Tim Horton played a total of 24 seasons for the Rangers, Sabres, Maple Leafs and Penguins.
However, you would notice that despite his great achievements on the field, his name is much better known for coffee and doughnuts. That is right, Tim Horton Doughnuts. The first of this chain opened up back in 1964 in Ontario.
Just in four years, 1968, the business was already worth millions. By the time of Tim Horton’s death in 1974 due to a car accident, there were already 40 stores of Tim Horton Doughnuts. Now there are more than 4800 stores spread out worldwide over a number of different countries.
2. Shaquille O’Neal
We all know about Shaq. Back during the early playing days of Shaq, he had made investments in big companies such as Apple, Google, PepsiCo and General Electrics. It was a great strategy to start building off his wealth, given the fact that he started early as well.
Shaquille O’Neal is still quite visible even now after his career as a sportsman has ended due to his role in the show “Inside the NBA” on TNT. The main thing that keeps him away from the court a lot are his business endeavours.
He is involved with many different places such as eSports, real estates and even the fast-food industry. He has been having ties with Papa John’s, Krispy Kreme and even Five Guys restaurant for a while now. Shaq may come off as quite the laidback wise man on TNT but he does have his mind set on building his wealth.
3. Jim Bouton
“Ball Four,” a sports book written by Jim Bouton that turned out to be one of the best and most famous books ever written on sports. One of the reasons the book got this fame was because it showed the people and the fans the truth about professional sports and everything that went on behind the curtains.
Jim Bouton definitely did say goodbye to his professional career because of this book and he was taken out from the game and also ended up becoming an outcast amongst all coaches and players in sports in general. It might all seem bad but financially, that’s probably the best thing that happened to him.
After his book became a massive hit and a success, he decided to write “I’m Glad You Didn’t Take It Personally” which was a sequel to his first book and he also updated his first book, “Ball Four” was updated to “Ball Five.”
Bouton was also seen doing some broadcasting work in New York City as a sports anchor. In 1978 Jim Bouton tried to make a short comeback but then he got busy again with the creation of the shredded bubble gum, “Big League Chew.”
4. David Beckham
Only after David Beckham had stepped away from the pitch did he experience his biggest earning years. Back in 2014, Beckham Brand Holdings was founded. Beckham Brand Holdings also has quite some interest in places such as real estate, fashion, TV production and even e-commerce.
David Beckham has managed to become a great brand name not only in the industry of the soccer community but in the world of business as well, and all was done along with Victoria, his wife. Just like we have seen many of the athletes producing a great amount of profit after the end of their professional careers, Beckham did the same.
He is also now into the industry of owning teams, his franchise in the MLS, Inter Miami CF have also been playing. Together this lovely couple, David and Victoria Beckham have a total net worth of more than a billion dollars.
5. Michael Jordan
This list would not have been complete without mentioning the great Michael Jordan. Michael Jordan was able to build himself a massive fortune just alone from his endorsement deals. Nike annually earns billions just from his Jordan Brand and he is also even an automotive group co-owner. Not only that but he also has interests in different restaurants.
His total fortune is valued to be over 1.5 billion dollars. There are also several books that were co-written by Michael Jordan. Aside from the good relationship he has with Nike, just from endorsement deals with McDonald’s, Hanes, Gatorade and many others, he was able to make millions.
He also currently owns the majority of the Charlotte Hornets. Michael Jordan is without a doubt one of the most legendary and the highest paid sportsmen of all time.
Final Thoughts
Many sportsmen or athletes think outside the field and try to generate a better flow of income for their wealth. The people in this list had a business mentality that they applied out of the field in a strategic way. We hope you liked our list of some of the most famous sportsmen who were able to make a lot more off the field!
