Saquon Barkley is playing for equity

Original Article ↗ Hacker News Discussion ↗

Financial Reality of NFL Careers

  • Top-tier stars can mimic “live on endorsements, invest the salary,” but most players lack meaningful endorsement income.
  • Median salary (~$800–850k) looks huge, yet careers are short (often 2–4 years). After taxes (including “jock tax” in many states), agent fees, and self-funded training/nutrition, take‑home can be far lower.
  • Practice-squad and fringe players earn much less, often on non‑guaranteed or week‑to‑week deals.
  • Some nuance: once you filter for opening-day rosters or veterans, average careers are longer (6–11+ years), but those groups are small; many wash out quickly.
  • Structural critique: schools and colleges often prioritize football over academics, leaving many players poorly prepared for non-sports careers.

Are NFL Players Overpaid? Social Value of Sports

  • One side argues NFL salaries are excessive for “playing with a ball” and providing little practical societal value; entertainment, gambling, and advertising are seen as net negatives or distractions.
  • Others counter that:
    • Odds of making the NFL are tiny compared with many “smart” careers.
    • Players accept serious physical and mental health risks.
    • Entertainment is a core economic driver and a legitimate good; football supports large ecosystems of workers and creates cultural cohesion.
  • Meta-debate over whether sports’ popularity is “manufactured” via decades of marketing and political use, or reflects genuine, differentiated appeal (strategy, diversity of roles, scarcity of games).

Barkley’s Investing and Access

  • Many are impressed that he invested his rookie deal and lives off endorsements; comparisons to earlier frugal athletes.
  • Strong caveat: his path is not generalizable. A $30M contract plus ~$10M/year in endorsements allows risk-taking most players can’t afford.
  • His portfolio (late-stage stakes in hot startups and LP slots in elite VC funds) is seen as largely a function of celebrity-driven deal access; non-famous millionaires likely couldn’t get into the same funds.
  • Some question whether his results reflect skill or luck and survivorship bias; the article mostly lists hits and notes he prefers later-stage deals to avoid blowups.

ZIRP, Crypto, and Returns Debate

  • Side thread argues that someone with $100k in 2017 could plausibly be a multi‑millionaire now via BTC, big tech, and meme stocks; others call this hindsight cherry‑picking and stress the extreme risk and rarity.
  • This loops back to Barkley: having large capital and downside protection (future earnings, endorsements) makes speculative upside plays more feasible.

Equity and Ownership Ideas

  • Proposal: compensate aging franchise stars with team equity to ease cap constraints, honor legacy, and keep them tied to the franchise.
  • Concerns raised about owner power, conflict of interest (if a player later moves teams), and the fact that most players never reach “equity partner” status.
  • Alternative idea: player equity in the league as a whole, though details and incentives remain unclear.

Miscellaneous

  • Some skepticism toward his crypto-heavy and defense/AI portfolio on ethical or taste grounds, independent of returns.
  • A few comments note the article reads like AI‑generated.
  • Fan reactions range from admiration to lingering resentment from his former team’s supporters.