Lauryn: The USOPC has something called Operation Gold. Narrator: The International Olympic Committee doesn't award athletes cash prizes for medals. So always going into a race with that is an immense amount of pressure. Competitions leading up to the Olympics, like the Diamond League meets, can have $10,000 first-place prizes.Īaron: For me, when I get prize money, I have to immediately disburse that to bills and savings, and also I have to think about, I can't lose, or I can't come in a certain place because I have to make a certain amount of money to either break even or to gain a profit. Athletes have to go out and get their own sponsors. Narrator: Nailing a coveted sponsorship is hard. It can literally be you have a huge following on Instagram, or you can just be so good that it's undeniable. Lauryn: When sponsors and brands are looking at athletes, they're looking at marketability, the return on investment they're going to get. They also depend on the athlete's popularity. Narrator: That's because sponsorships don't just depend on the sport. Lauryn: I've seen athletes get very upset because they've performed really well, better than their competitor even, but the competitor has a lot more sponsorship opportunity. Narrator: Sponsorship deals among athletes are inconsistent, ranging from hundreds of dollars to millions. That's been hard to come by because people don't know water polo. M aggie Steffens: Some of us as athletes have been really fortunate to gain individual sponsorships. 2K Sports and Nike sponsor Kevin Durant, who rakes in $40 million in sponsorship money every year. TYR Sport sponsors Katie Ledecky for $7 million. More often, these sponsorships are performance-based, meaning an athlete has to win a certain number of competitions. A company covers some of their athlete's expenses in exchange for its logo on the athlete's uniform. Narrator: Athletes can also make money through sponsorships. It's the niche sports that really struggle the most. NBA, I mean, we don't even have to cover that one. Swimming, there's a lot of money, gymnastics, there's a lot of money. Narrator: Compare that to track and field, where 128 American athletes are headed to the Olympic Games competing for 48 gold medals.
Bobsled is a much smaller Olympic sport, and so there's three medals that we can earn. Lauryn: The funding was quite different between the two. She was the first American woman to win medals in both the Summer and Winter Olympics. Narrator: Lauryn Williams competed in Olympic track and field and bobsled. So it's a tough kind of balancing act that the NGBs are doing to figure out, how do we support the athletes that are up-and-coming, but then also how do we make sure that those who are doing awesome right now are well cared for? Lauryn: Their ability is to be able to earn medals. Narrator: How much funding an athlete gets depends on performance, and. We get a stipend, and it is $300 a month. Monica won bronze at the Rio 2016 Olympics. Narrator: An Olympic gold-medal rower told USA Today she receives $2,000 a month.
#First 48 narrator salary plus#
We pay to our very top athletes around $4,000 a month, plus performance bonuses. Athletes can get stipends directly from the US Olympic & Paralympic Committee or from the groups that run the Olympic sports teams, called the national governing bodies.
Narrator: But there are three main ways they can make money for being an athlete. We are the only major country in the world, and one of very few countries period, where the government does not get involved in funding its Olympic team. Moinca Aksamit: If you're not going to be able to afford it, and if you're not doing well, there's like six other people waiting in line just to have the opportunity. Narrator: So how do Olympians make money, and why isn't it enough? Unlike countries such as the UK or Singapore, American Olympians don't get paid to attend the Olympics. Something like a $250,000 earning turns into $125,000 really quick. Lauryn: And you also are responsible for your coach, making sure that they are paid and compensated accordingly. Narrator: They also have a long list of expenses to train for their sport. And nothing could be further from the truth. Lauryn Williams: You see someone that's on television all the time and assume all Olympic athletes are famous, all you have to do is get a medal and you'll be rich. Narrator: That's because unless they win a medal, Olympians don't get paid for competing at the games. We're not sponsored athletes on cereal boxes and Gatorade bottles. But a recent global study of 500 elite athletes found that nearly 60% did not consider themselves financially stable. Narrator: Some Olympians make millions of dollars. Account icon An icon in the shape of a person's head and shoulders.
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