Bad business decisions

"It's no secret that professional athletes make boatloads of money both on the field and through lucrative endorsement deals, but what many fans don't realize is that these big-money stars often blow all their cash in spectacularly bad business ventures. Professional athletes love making off-field investments, whether for retirement or for fun, but sometimes masquerading as Donald Trump winds up leaving these guys (and gals) in more debt than they could have ever imagined. Typically, these horrible business investments stem from famous athletes' associations with non-investment professionals, including friends, family members, other celebrities, and ever-mysterious "business advisors." It's a shocking revelation: being young, rich and famous doesn't always equate to having sound business judgment (or immunity from scams)." (Franchise Help)

An example is Torii Hunter "This star centerfielder was made famous for miraculously robbing home runs by climbing the fence.  Hunter said he invested  $70,000 in an inflatable raft invention. According to Sports Illustrated, "The pitch was that when high-rainfall areas were flooded, consumers could pump up the device, allowing a sofa to float and remain dry." Turns out it was Hunter taking the bath, however: "The guy I invested with came back and wanted me to put in more, about $500,000,'" he says." (Franchise Help) This example shows that when athletes don't know a lot about business and what it takes for a business to be successful, that it could blow up in your face.

An other example is Antoine Winfield "the top-ranked defensive back in the country in his draft class -- was a first-round pick out of Ohio State University. Unfortunately, the standout defender soon saw half of his $3.5 million signing bonus go down the tubes when his close friend and adviser Dunyasha Mon Yetts pilfered the funds in the name of responsibly managing Winfield's investments.  In reality, Yetts used the money to make highly speculative (and extremely poor) investments, and then he went even further by actually moving some cash out of Winfield's accounts and into his own. All this was hidden from Winfield, who believed his friend wasThis star centerfielder was made famous for miraculously robbing home runs by climbing the fence.  Hunter said he invested  $70,000 in an inflatable raft invention. According to Sports Illustrated, "The pitch was that when high-rainfall areas were flooded, consumers could pump up the device, allowing a sofa to float and remain dry." Turns out it was Hunter taking the bath, however: "The guy I invested with came back and wanted me to put in more, about $500,000,'" he says. busy investing the funds for a healthy profit." (Franchise Help)  Winfield made the mistake of having his close friend be in charged of his money and investments, because his friend ended up stealing from him and taking advantage of him.

Works Cited:

"20 Famous Athletes and Their Worst Investment Blunders." Franchise Help , n. d. Web. 12 Apr. 2014. https://www.franchisehelp.com/blog/20-famous-athletes-and-their-worst-investment-fails/.