Athletes Who Are Poorer Than You Thought

Becoming a professional athlete is like winning the lottery, twice.

The first jackpot: sports people with world-class abilities get to focus their lives on a game, earning a place of prominence in their high school, getting into a college of their choice, and then moving on to the big leagues or the Olympics. (Okay, okay, so practice, dedication, and sacrifice has a lot to do with that narrative too.) Anyway, going pro also involves getting paid an obscene amount of money. That's when athletes hit the literal jackpot, often earning salaries in the $100 million-plus range, and that's not even counting the beaucoup bucks they earn appearing in sneaker or hot dog commercials.