Trying to Make it in the Majors

I've often thought along these lines - an athlete selling shares in "Johnny Athlete, Inc."

It actually used to be somewhat common on the pro golf tour for guys starting out. A group of supporters would front the $$ for his expenses in exchange for a share of his winnings.

It is less common now, at least on the PGA tour, because pretty much anybody with a card can get enough endorsement deals to pay his annual travel and living expenses.

The idea could be on a larger scale. The shares could involve a claim not just on the players baseball salary, but also his endorsements and other income. In essense, an athlete "takes himself public."

The limits on this idea is that the high profile athlete has no need to do it. But it could be interesting: what would Michael Jordan have 'sold' for in 1986? Could he have sold 50% of his lifetime earnings for $25 million?

Who says baseball players aren't smart?

No doubt a finance or business class at Tufts helped.

No matter what happens or how it pans out, I think it is a really enterprising idea!

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No doubt a finance or business class at Tufts helped.

It's a small liberal arts college. They don't have either. What they have is a lot of smart kids. It's a hard school to get accepted.

Wow, what a great idea by a player!

http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/prospects/features/265095.html

I like this Randy Newsom - undrafted free agent, came from an academic DIII - 6' 2" right handed sidearmer with a fastball topping out at the high 80's!

Read his blog - really interesting viewpoint about the different paths players take to reach the big leagues. Good inspiring story for the HSBW web.

Looks also like a good $20 investment!

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Good inspiring story for the HSBW web.

Absolutely agree - thanks for sharing these stories.

This isn't much different than when kids are out looking for 'sponsors' so they can play travel ball or attend a showcase.

The only difference is that there are agreed terms for the payment on investment, if any.

I wonder what would happen if a past sponsor appeared looking for repayment and interest on the loans they made towards these kids baseball careers.

Loan sharks and shylocks will start scouting ball fields across the country.

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Originally posted by RJM:

quote:

No doubt a finance or business class at Tufts helped.

It's a small liberal arts college. They don't have either. What they have is a lot of smart kids. It's a hard school to get accepted.

I went to a small liberal arts college and took finance and other business classes as well. In fact, if you go to their website and look within the department of economics, you'll see plenty of classes that would have helped in such an endeavor.