7 Promising Career Paths for Retired Athletes

The term “professional athlete” is typically associated with superstars and household names such as the likes of Venus Williams, Peyton Manning, George Foreman, and others. While some elite professional athletes work well into their 40s, making millions in the process, for others retirement from professional sports is a rather different experience.

According to the four major men’s leagues of North America, namely the NBA, NFL, NHL, and MLB, the average age of retirement for athletes is under 30. In reality, few of these retirees ever earn a fraction of the hundreds of millions in income generated by superstar athletes, increasing the imperative to launch a successful second career.

The good news is that with an enviable collection of soft skills, athletes possess a myriad of qualities and aptitudes that are highly transferable to other fields. In this article, we provide an overview of seven top jobs for former athletes, presenting an opportunity to start a whole new chapter and forge rewarding, exciting new careers.

Business Development and Sales Professional

Boasting adept communication and persuasion skills, sports personalities are a great fit for sales roles. Their competitive nature, ability to work well under pressure, and relationship-building capabilities also make athletes a natural fit for business development and account management roles.

Presenting the opportunity to apply their persuasive skills and strive for success in a business environment, business development positions in particular present scope for significant rewards and recognition, with successful business development managers typically ranking as one of an organization’s most influential figures.

Financial Advisor

In the early stages of their career, virtually all professional athletes face failure and rejection, such as losing to their opponent in the final round. Though these experiences no doubt seem like the end of the world at the time, it is the athletes’ ability to pick themselves up and start over again that primes them for success.

Mistakes and plain bad luck can be powerful teachers, forcing athletes to develop resilience and determination to overcome adversity. It is this same passion and drive that ideally enables former athletes to win over clients and succeed as financial advisors, helping clients to manage their investments and assets. Since clients are often acquired by cold calling, it is a vocation where great communications skills are a must.

Life Coach

Anyone who has risen to the pinnacle of their career has overcome vast obstacles and challenges to get there. This places former elite athletes in an ideal position to coach others and help them reach their goals.

By providing the right tools and instilling the necessary mindset to make things happen, life coaches can help clients to take their career to the next level, as well as helping them in various other aspects of their lives, including improving their nutrition, health and fitness regime, and developing winning habits.

Realtor

Focused on helping clients to sell residential or commercial property and purchasers to find businesses premises and homes, realtors may either work as independent agents, winning over their own clients, or on behalf of a company.

The role involves a range of different responsibilities, including valuing properties, hosting open houses, and scheduling appointments for potential purchasers to view properties. In addition, realtors are increasingly venturing into the world of digital marketing, helping to garner interest in properties for sale, facilitating virtual viewings, and even enabling prospective buyers to gauge how their furniture would look in properties listed for sale via the latest proptech innovations.

Franchise Owner

Franchises are small businesses usually run by an individual or family. Companies that operate franchise schemes enable franchisees to open a division of the company in return for a fee.

Franchises are a particularly popular second career path for former athletes. For example, Magic Johnson’s portfolio of businesses has included ownership in more than 105 Starbucks locations, as well as Loew’s Movie Theaters and TGI Friday’s locations.

Personal Trainer

Having already achieved a level of fitness that most people can only dream of reaching, former athletes are prime targets for fitness clubs seeking exercise instructors or personal trainers.

Even if they do not yet possess the requisite experience or the right certifications, the significant edge that ex-professional athletes boast over other candidates is their sheer star power and ability to promote the business. After all, who can give better boxing training than a former pro, or who can coach rising tennis stars better than a decorated Grand Slam winner?

In addition, former athletes already possess an abundance of qualities that are highly transferable to the role, including passion, determination, communication, and team-building skills, as well as a positive mental attitude.

Executive Recruiter

The executive recruiter’s role involves finding top talent to fill vacant positions at client companies. Just as professional athletes sizes up their opponents before a big game, executive recruiters must be adept at weighing talent and identifying the strengths and weaknesses of each candidate.

Coming from a background that is action-oriented, fast-moving, and results driven, former athletes are ideally placed for success in the realm of executive search.