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Preventing a financial fumble: Brett Favre's advice to athletes

Within two years after retirement 78% of NFL players are under financial stress or flat out broke. That’s according to a 2009 Sports Illustrated article that also notes some 60% of NBA players suffer a similar fate five years after retirement.

Much has been made of athlete salaries and say what you will about them, but the fact remains that a large percentage of the starts you know and love on the field, court or rink today simply don’t know how to responsibly handle the money they are making.

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FILE - Brett Favre in Detroit, Michigan in 2011 (AFP Photo/Gregory Shamus)
FILE - Brett Favre in Detroit, Michigan in 2011 (AFP Photo/Gregory Shamus)

NFL great Brett Favre has, by all accounts, avoided that fate but he’s keenly aware that many he played with in his 20 years in the league aren’t as lucky.

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“Part of the problem is we’re not business people. We fall into a great deal of money in a short amount of time… Regardless of what you make at some point you may have to work again. Guys think it will go on forever.”

Over the past several years many have tried to find ways to make it easier for both current and former players to capitalize on their brands and make money off their skills outside of their contracts. On such platform is a social media company called Sqor Sports (like "score"), of which Favre is an investor.

On the surface it looks like a way for fans to follow their favorite teams and athletes, getting news from various sources all in one central place.

But dig a little deeper and it is actually a platform to generate revenue for athletes who may not be national names or stars of popular sports.

Related: Brett Favre's advice for Peyton Manning

There is a crowdfunding feature that allows, say, an up-and-coming UFC fighter to get fans help him get money for travel or training. Brett Favre has used it to raise money for his charitable foundation.

Sqor's Android app
Sqor's Android app

Sqor founder and CEO Brian Wilhite also notes his platform can match athletes with marketers thus making them a little more money. He uses San Francisco Giant outfielder, Hunter Pence as a prime example. While Cardinals, Braves and Mets fans may not think his name has much cache marketers in San Francisco would do well to team up with him there where he is wildly popular.

Likewise, a company looking to make a splash on social media might want to avoid Peyton Manning since, despite being a household name, he is not very active online.

Sqor is able to look at trends and make those matches.

While it won’t cure the problem of financial strife for athletes no longer in their prime playing days, it may help them monetize their brand which, at the very least, may help a little.

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