US Sports Stars with Entrepreneurial Spirit

The modern-day sports star is expected to be so much more than just an elite athlete, adding many strings to their bow as their career progresses.

One of these is business acumen, which many sports stars gain an interest in as they watch the people in their support team, whose jobs depend on them maximizing revenues from the player’s personal brand and image.

As a result of this trend, American sports leagues like the MLB, NBA, NFL, and NHL are now packed with budding entrepreneurs, who all have the added advantage of having plenty of spare capital kicking around. These are just some of America’s most entrepreneurial sports stars operating today.

Many NBA players have followed the lead of men like Michael Jordan and Shaquille O'Neal to become mega businessmen in their own right

Lebron James – Making Dunks and Movies

Many of the NBA’s biggest earning entrepreneurs are now retired from the game, such as Michael Jordan and Shaquille O'Neal, but that is not stopping those current players, who still appear on odds lines every week, from getting in on the business action.

Lebron James is still as widely picked by sports bettors and fantasy sports aficionados today as he was back in his supposed prime, all the while dipping his toe in the waters of many varying industries.

One of his biggest success stories is that of SpringHill Entertainment, which is a movie and TV production company that King James set up with his business manager, Maverick Carter. This means that while his name still pops up in every major online sports resource, it also rolls on the credits of movies such as Space Jam 2 and Hustle.

Michael Jordan – The Best Ever, On Court, and Off It

It would be wrong not to include the great man on this list, because he is not only the best to ever do it on the parquet, but in the boardroom as well.

His savvy investments and entrepreneurial ventures mean that he is the only NBA star to have ever become a true billionaire. Among his investment portfolio are the Charlotte Hornets NBA franchise, music technology company MUZIK, and fantasy sports firm DraftKings, and who can blame him when you consider the ratings on show at the DraftKings sportsbook reviews, which can be found on comparison website OddsChecker.

With a net worth of well over $2 billion, the sky appears to be the limit for how much this legend of the game can earn.

Williams has been dominant at tournaments like Wimbledon, and has used her public profile to cash in when she is not serving up aces and forehand winners

Serena Williams – Tennis GWOAT Coins It In

The Williams sisters come from entrepreneurial stock, having been coached all the way to WTA and grand slam stardom from the confines of dilapidated public tennis courts.

Since those downtrodden formative years, the younger Williams sister has gone on to be within a hair’s breadth of winning more grand slam titles than anyone else in history, all the while building a formidable business empire.

Among her entrepreneurial ventures are her very own fashion line as well as owning a sizeable stake in the Miami Dolphins.

Tom Brady – Old Golden Arm Cannot Help but Win

When Tom Brady left New England to try his hand at reviving the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, there were many betting tipsters and media observers who thought he would fall flat on his face.

The rest, of course, is history, as sports writers up and down the land were made to eat their proverbial hats as Brady went on to win yet another Super Bowl. It remains to be seen if he can repeat the feat, not that a man with a net worth in the range of $250 million will be too worried whether he does or not.

His main entrepreneurial venture is his wellness and health company called TB12, which has grown exponentially thanks to its website that allows fans to train, diet, and prepare for game time in exactly the same way this famous quarterback does.