Congratulations, your NBA client is approaching free agency! The big payday contract is now in sight. These massive contracts can be worth hundreds of millions of dollars, however, before the celebrations can ensue there is a catch: the next contract is not all guaranteed until they sign on the dotted line down the road. The question becomes, how to protect your client between now and when he signs his next NBA contract? Should your NBA client suffer a career ending disability or illness before signing a mega contract, their future earnings are exposed. What most athletes should be keenly aware of is the effect on their financial health due to a premature retirement from a career ending injury or illness. By the very nature of the sport, an athlete's body is continuously in harm's way and should be protected both physically and financially from a career ending disability.
Given the compressed career lifespan - the average NBA player's career is roughly 4.8 years - Disability Insurance protection is the most critical form of insurance any player can own. This is a specialty insurance product that can help a player hedge against a career-ending injury or illness and protect their future income. Simply put, it safe-guards a player’s non-guaranteed earnings, so they can focus on the game.
For example, we recently secured a policy for a small forward NBA player. As a second round pick during the draft, the player blossomed into a super-star athlete with a 5-year-$190-million contract in his immediate future. The advisor on the case was challenged with securing an adequate amount of disability insurance to protect the player's future income. Check out the case study to read about the insurance solution that was developed.
Now, let's fast-forward, your NBA client has signed his big payday contract, but there is still an exposure to your client. Now the player is walking around with a target on their back when traveling overseas in the off-season. Luckily, there are insurance products available through Lloyd's of London to protect athletes against kidnap and ransom threats. Kidnapping of the affluent are on the rise worldwide, and highly-paid athletes are no exception. This policy will pay for reimbursements of paid ransom, but more importantly provides access to a team of specialized professional who specialize in getting people out safely. For foreign born players returning home for a visit, securing this coverage is paramount.
If you are looking to learning more about insurance for professional and college athletes, please stay tuned for a webinar on the topic next month. In the meantime, we encourage you to download our athlete brochure. Our goal with the brochure is help educate our advisors, so they can deliver a broader and richer insurance portfolio for their most exceptional athlete clients.