How do athletes get paid?
30:50 Share

Hey, bazillionaires. Welcome back to another episode of Million Bazillion, presented in partnership with Greenlight, the debit card and money app for kids. People earn a paycheck in all kinds of ways. But with Greenlight, you can learn what to do with your earnings, how to set savings goals, track earnings and savings, and even invest. Start managing your money like a champ with Greenlight. Join today at greenlight.com slash million.

Hey, look what I pulled out of the Marketplace basement. It's the foosball table. Ooh, is it that time of year again for America's favorite pastime, tabletop soccer? Yeah, and I think this is our year to win the semi-annual public radio foosball tournament. We've gotten close before, as you know, but we've never actually won it. Just play this quick round with me now so we can see if the dowel will still turn and if the pieces can still, like, kick okay. Some of these gears are a little jammed up.

Ha! Scored on you. No fair. These pieces aren't kicking properly. Might need to replace player 19 and 7. Sorry, coach. We'll try harder. Yeah, we're going to learn from this one. It's okay. You're just a little rusty. What? Who said that? Us. Down here on the foosball table. We can all talk. Yeah!

Welcome to Million Bazillion. I'm Ryan. And I'm Bridget, and we help dollars make more sense. And we just discovered that the little wooden figures on our foosball table can talk. We sure can. Hey, Coach, I think I pulled a hammy in the scrimmage. What should I do? Remember rice? I should put rice on it? No, rest, ice, compression, elephantization...

I forget the last one. It's with an E, but whatever. Boy, this is going to make the upcoming foosball tournament very interesting. Okay, before this talking foosball team runs away with the whole episode, let's take a minute and listen to today's question. Hi, I'm Alistair from San Diego, California. Hey, Alistair, what's your question? I wanted to know how...

How people decide how athletes get paid. A timely question, Alistair. What inspired you? I wanted to know this because I love baseball and football. I also play baseball and football. And I've seen big players getting contracts, which is just crazy how much money they are making. And I want to know how they decide to pay that much for those players. Go Padres!

Did you say crazy money? How much money are we talking about here? Oh, well, you know, some of the top quarterbacks in the NFL are making over like $50 million a year. Top baseball players can make over $100 million a year. This is just a lot of money. See, Alistair, when it comes to how much athletes get paid... Excuse me, Bridget. As a classic guy's guy jock podcasting bro guy, I'll handle the opening explainer on this one, okay? Athlete pay is determined by

by a whole bunch of factors, like how the leaderboard stats line up to the player roster average. And I don't know the answer. Can you do it, Bridget? All I know is that sports players usually have contracts or agreements to play with a team. So, like, the player and the team are going to negotiate over how much the team will pay the player and for how long. Cool. That's exactly what I was going to say. Well done, Bridget. Yeah.

Number seven here with a question. Speaking of athlete pay, our contracts are up for renegotiation in the upcoming foosball season, and we ain't so happy with our paychecks. Yeah. Turns out that being a tiny foosball athlete is exactly like being a real human-sized athlete. As the bosses of this here foosball team, y'all should help us with our money problems as a way of exploring the subject for your financial literacy program.

Wow, that's an idea so crazy it just might work.

What do you mean crazy? It actually sounds very reasonable and perfectly timed. As we assemble our perfect and for the first time winning foosball team, we'll be able to see firsthand the types of decisions that teams make when they're trying to decide if they should give a player one of those big contracts Alistair's heard about. Okay then, I guess it is a good idea. We're going to get into it with our foosball team and learn all about how athletes are paid right after this.

And now it's time for asking random kids not-so-random questions. Today's question is, which job do you think should make the most money? Doctors should make the most money because they are saving people's lives. I think being a dentist or a surgeon would make the most money. Construction workers because they build houses to keep us safe. Surgeons because they have to, like, look at

like really gross things from people. I think that a science job should make the most money because it takes a lot of practice. That was Joshua in California, Lillian in Helsinki, Connor in California, Rala in Minnesota, and William in Maryland. This has been Asking Random Kids Not-So-Random Questions.

Welcome back to Million Bazillion. On today's episode, we're answering Alistair's question about how athletes are paid in sports. And to help us learn the answer is our beloved foosball team, the Millie Bazillion. ♪

Everybody get in here. Get in here. Take a knee. Take a knee. Now, as you know, we are heading into the upcoming foosball season. And Ryan and I, we want to build a winning team. Even if it's just one win this season, that would be a real improvement. The big professional football and basketball and baseball teams and all that, they've got huge budgets, gobs of money that they can use to convince athletes to play for them. Ryan and I, though, we are on a limited budget.

A very limited budget, even for a public radio podcast. We don't have as much to work with as some of the other teams out there, but we looked through our old coat pockets and couch cushions and scrounged together exactly $100 total to spend on this year's team. With this $100, we gotta build a team of 13 players that'll wipe the floor with NPR's foosball team. I thought we were on an NPR show. No, we're a marketplace show from American Public Media. Yeah.

So like an NPR show? No, not like NPR. Forget it. It doesn't matter. The point is, as we were saying earlier to players number seven and 19, we're going to have to make some tough choices of which of you players to keep and which of you we trade and also how much money we're willing to spend on each of you. Well, we all know where the majority of that $100 is going. Same place it goes every year. To our star player, Rodrigo Pompei. ♪

So is Rodrigo here? Oh, no, he's not here. Oh, when I heard the guitar, I thought it was like his introduction. No, he's on vacation right now in Fiji with a rubber ducky.

Well, number seven's not wrong. It turns out Rodrigo's contract with us is over. He's allowed to sign with any team he wants. And if we don't make him a financially competitive offer, we could lose him to another team. But we know the drill. You fork over most of that cash to Rodrigo because on our team, he kicks the hardest. He's obviously the most handsome and the most famous. Then it'll be up to the rest of us to fight over the table scraps.

Now wait a minute, Rodrigo's a striker. Some positions just get paid more than others in sports. You guys know this. I know I'm just a rear kicker, but you couldn't win those games without me. Why am I only earning a tenth of what Rodrigo earns? My client is right.

He's an extremely undervalued player. Who the heck are you? Yeah, who's this nutcracker who just wandered onto the foosball table? It's not even Christmas time. What business is this of yours, nutcracker? I'm not just any nutcracker. My name is Jimmy McQuarrie. I'm number seven's agent. Oh boy, we gotta deal with a sports agent now too? And, as you know, my client's contract is up. And if you're not willing to budge upward on the price, he's gonna have to start looking at other teams. But I don't want to leave this team. I love this team.

Please, will you just be quiet and trust me? I'm so close to landing you that serial endorsement deal. Like Rodrigo's deal? Not quite as big as Rodrigo's deal. His is eight figures. Yours is more like four. But still, this could be great for you. Please, help me. Help me help you. Help me help you. Help me help you. Help me help you. Oh, okay, okay, okay. We've heard enough.

Ryan, we need help. How are we supposed to figure out the best way to spend our budget? Put it all on one star player? Hold a little back to pay the rest of the players more so they agree to play for us again? That sports agent nutcracker is very convincing. I know. Being a general manager is stressful. I'm going to call on some expert advice from Nola Aga. She's a sports management professor at the University of San Francisco. She studies how real sports teams decide player salaries. And I think she'll be able to help us figure some of this out.

Hello? Hey Nola, it's Bridget and Ryan here from Million Bazillion and we need your help. Let me guess, you're trying to assemble a dream team for the big public radio foosball tournament, but all your players are demanding more money and you're trying to figure out what to do. Yeah, how'd you know all that? Don't worry about it, I gotcha. All right, so tell us, like how does it all work? How do teams decide to give some players these huge paychecks? Well, let's start at the beginning.

And let's begin with an example. So let's say you collect Pokemon cards. And if you have a Prismatic Pikachu card, you know that it's really special. There aren't a lot of those special cards. They're rare. And this means the supply is low.

But because lots of people want them, it means demand is high. And in this situation, the card costs more. Yep, that's the exact opposite reason why I was able to buy 100 Bib Fortuna cards for mere pennies. No demand and huge supply. So in sports, just like with rare Pokemon cards, athletic talent is rare. In the NFL, there aren't a lot of quarterbacks like Patrick Gahomes. And in the NWSL, there are very few strikers as amazing as Sophia Smith.

And in the NBA, players like Steph Curry are exceptionally rare. So depending what sport you like, you know these players' names because they're the superstars. And that's why they're rare and getting paid a lot. Oh, so that's why the biggest paydays in sports go to LeBron James in the NBA and Shohei Otani in the MLB and probably somebody in hockey. No one's sure. So maybe Rodrigo has a point. He does deserve a huge paycheck.

So in sports, to determine how much a team will pay, we first have to ask, how much will a team make? And therefore, how much do they have to spend? So a team sits down and they say, all right, we sell tickets. We sell broadcasting rights, which gives stations like ESPN the ability to broadcast our games. We sell sponsorships and lots of jerseys, hats, and nachos. Popular professional sports teams can make

hundreds of millions of dollars from all that stuff in a single season. Yeah, and popular public radio foosball teams can make tens of hundreds of dollars in a single season. And so as the team is trying to figure out how much money they have to spend, they're also trying to figure out how much more they'll have if they sign a star player. Because it turns out, if you have a star player, everyone wants to pay you more.

And all of that new revenue is money that they can spend on the salary for their superstar. And that superstar player will help the team make money for years into the future. That's what we want. Wins and the financial success that comes with winning that fuels even more winning. So we don't even notice that we're paying our players more because we're making so much more. I really feel like this is our year, Bridget. Yeah, our star foosball player is this hot shot, Rodrigo Pompey.

Pompeii. Oh, I'm familiar. Good foosball player. But to be honest, he sort of has an attitude. No, he didn't even show up to the meeting. He didn't even show up to the meeting. But our 12 other players all want more money this year, too. Yeah, well, it sounds like you've got to balance the needs of your less popular but still very important players with the demands of Rodrigo Pompeii.

Who you're lucky to have on your team, but he sounds kind of like a prima donna. He didn't even show up to the meeting, okay? Let me ask you this. What's to keep a star player like Rodrigo from hogging our whole $100 budget for himself? So you have to pay all of your players, not just the superstars.

Players work together in organizations called unions, which bargain with team owners for guaranteed minimum salaries, which means everyone wants to have a good wage. Oh, yeah. There's a foosball union. They organized a player strike one year and we had to play foosball by flicking the ball with our fingers. I broke my pinky. We caved. We gave the players what they wanted. Yeah, you can learn more about strikes and unions in our episode. What are unions? Season six, episode two. Get with the program, people. It's a great show.

At the end of the day, leagues or team owners have an interest in making sure that all the teams have somewhat equal talent because it makes it way more fun when you don't know in advance which team will win.

We call that uncertainty of outcome. And the way that players are paid is one way that league rules can improve competitive balance. Oh, interesting. OK, so that means one really good team can't just pay all the money to get only the best players and have a super team that no one can beat because it would make for boring sports and nobody wants that.

Yeah, athletes can't earn so much money they destroy the entire system. And they have to deliver tangible results. It's sort of the opposite of tech. Okay, Nola, thank you so much for talking to us. You've been a lifesaver. No problem. Good luck with your public radio foosball tournament. We had one for NPR. We're not an NPR show, but whatever. It doesn't matter. Thank you. Ryan, I think I know what we have to do.

We only have $100 and we got to make it count. I know that Nola said that we should pay big bucks for some established hotshot player, but I think with our budget, our only choice is to find an undiscovered talent out there. Someone who can win, but who's untested. He wants to take a chance on us as much as we want to take a chance on them.

Great idea, but how do we find unknown talent? Well, one of us needs to scout all the available foosball players out there and see who's the best but most underappreciated. And then the other one needs to do a ton of backbreaking research into how to make sure those players are secret winners and then also convince them to play on our team without going over budget.

We're going to have to divide and conquer these tasks between us. Hmm. Sounds like the first thing involves watching a lot of foosball games while maybe getting to eat a hot dog. And the second thing involves a lot of reading. How about I do the first thing and you do the second thing? Deal. Bygum, we're going to assemble a foosball dream team and finally get a win this season. Right after this break.

Hey, Bazillionaires! This episode of Million Bazillion is presented in partnership with Greenlight, the debit card and money app for kids and teens. Today, we've been talking about how athletes get paid. And, whoa, some of those paychecks are huge. But whether you're hitting home runs in sold-out ballparks or just earning peanuts from mowing lawns in the neighborhood, it's all about knowing how to manage your money.

Greenlight gives kids and teens the tools to do just that. You can track your earnings, set savings goals, and even start learning how to invest all in one app. Think of it as your first training season. Managing your money early now is the real MVP move. Start saving, earning, and learning to invest your money like a champ with Greenlight. Join today at greenlight.com slash million. Once again, that's greenlight.com slash million.

Welcome back to Million Bazillion. Today, we're trying to assemble a winning team for the highly competitive semi-annual public radio foosball tournament. And in the process, we're learning a ton about how athletes' salaries are decided from the unions that negotiate their minimum pay to the popularity that drives up their asking prices.

And we're about to apply what we've learned from the sports pay expert Nola Agha to the fast-paced world of player salary negotiation. Isn't that right, Ryan? Oh, big time, Bridget. I was out there scouting the players, getting a feel for the good ones. A lot of good foosball talent out there. A lot of hustle. A lot of heart. Can't wait to start negotiating.

Why are you talking like that? All the scouts talk like this on the circuit, Bridget. To be a scout, you gotta have the right attitude, you gotta have the right intuition and the right voice. Let's do this. Okay, buckle up. It's time for us to roll some calls.

Okay, first of all, we had to trade some of our players. That means swapping a player to a different team. Like when you trade sandwiches at lunch, the player plays for a new team, which will now be responsible for paying that player's contract. It's not fun to let players go, but it's part of the job. Good ballplayers, we wish them the best on their new teams, but we only have $100 to assemble our team, so we gotta be wise and really make it count. I'm gonna call the manager of another team and see if I can arrange a trade.

You've reached Team This American Life. I'm Ira Glass. Who's this? Hi, Ira. It's Bridget and Ryan from Million Pazillion. Well, well, if it isn't Million Pazillion trying to win the foosball tournament yet again, are we? That's very cute, but you know what? This American Life's giant budget behind me, I'm sure to win.

You may have the most money to spend, but that doesn't mean you'll win this time. Look, we're looking to trade our players 5, 6, and 12 for one of your players. Ira, we want Stéphane Vontre, and we'll give you three players for him. Vontre? Our midfielder? He's been doing well for us. Okay, Ira. Three players, and we'll throw in 10 bucks. Here's an offer I'd consider. Vontre for Pompey. Rodrigo's contract with us is expired. He's a free agent. We can't make that trade.

Pompey's okay to go his own way, don't you say? Let me think about this and call you back. More after this. Ah, Bridget, we gotta get Von Trey. I got a good gut feeling about this one. Von Trey's got star quality, good build, a good sound of the crack of the wood when he hits the ball. I think we should be willing to trade three players plus throw in 30 bucks for this kid. Wait, not so fast. Let's look at the numbers.

The numbers? Yeah, the moneyball numbers. See, while you were out there scouting players on the field, I was studying the mathematics. By analyzing game stats, we can get a better picture of a player's true value. Some players appear flashy on the table, but according to the stats, they don't score enough goals to merit that high price tag, while other players are undervalued. Like who? Take Doug Schwepp.

He's a goalie for the Make Me Smart team, the Smarty Pants. He had this injury last year, so he took half the season off. And he doesn't have a contract with anyone yet, so he's a free agent and he can look for a new team to join. And this could be a great time to snag him. But my gut says we pass on Schwepp. He's all beat up and ugly. He's got no paint left on him. He's got a big chunk of his head missing. Sure, Doug Schwepp looks pretty banged up, but his stats tell a different story. Again with the stats over here.

If you look at the numbers, Schwepp is secretly one of the most undervalued players in all of foosball. He has the highest goal-blocking average in the entire league. He should be selling for 40 bucks, but we can get him for a fraction of that price because he has a few, you know, nicks and scuffs. Nicks and scuffs? Half his head is missing! Who cares? Does he kick with his head? No!

I'm telling you the numbers are on his side. I think we should place a bid. I'm going to call his agent. Okay, I guess if the money ball says it's okay. So you're going to keep doing that talent scout voice, huh? I love what I do, and yes, I am.

This is Jimmy McQuarrie. Hey, Jimmy. It's Bridget and Ryan from the Millie Bazillies. Has Rodrigo looked over our offer to re-sign with us? I can't say that he has. Look, Rodrigo's drowning in offers right now. Every team wants him. But I promise I'll let you know when I know. Okay, but in the meantime, we want Schwepp. Doug Schwepp? Really? Yeah, and we'll give you $7 for him. Hmm. I'd have to talk it over with Doug, but one second.

Doug! You want to play on the millie bazillies? Okay, he nodded. He's in. We'll send over the contract and make it official. Talk later, Jimmy. Hey, how's he going to sign without hands? Hello? You still there? He hung up. Okay. Oh, sorry. So this money ball, is this some Bridget thing you came up with yourself? No, no, no. This is called sabermetrics. This statistician named Bill James actually pioneered it and then kind of phased it out.

Famously, the Oakland A's general manager, Brad Pitt, I mean, Billy Bean, used it in the 2002 Major League Baseball season. So Billy Bean used this to assemble a team of seemingly uninspiring players on a limited budget. And then those undervalued players went on to win like a 20 game streak. It's one of the longest in Major League Baseball. So, yeah, no question. Billy Bean's bold use of sabermetrics changed the game forever.

Hello? Bridget, hi. It's Ira Glass. Guess who I just snagged right out from under you? Rodrigo Pompei. We just lost Rodrigo Pompei, our star player to Ira Glass. That's right. You've been cut by the glass. This is a catastrophe. We're never going to win the tournament now. Not necessarily. Wait, Ira, I'm going to put you on hold.

Rodrigo might have a lot of charisma, but his stats tell a different story. Yeah, he's an aggressive striker with a loud kick, but his accuracy? It leaves a lot to be desired. He actually misses a higher percentage of the shots he takes than our fullback, number 19. Is he a good player? Yes. Is he worth holding on to for players who score more than him? No.

Honestly, no. We are better off finding someone who can win for us and start that virtuous cycle of wins that lead to more fans, that leads to more money, to spend on even better players for next year. Okay, Bridget, you convinced me. But this better work. Ira, congrats on snagging Rodrigo. We still want Vontre. We'll trade you three players and 20 bucks to get him. Okay, you got a deal. Yes. Jimmy McQuarrie will be in touch about the paperwork right after this.

I really want to beat Ira Glass now. This is personal. This started out as just a fun thing we were doing for this episode, but I'm motivated now. We're going to keep using your money ball process to stretch our tiny budget to build a motley crew of unloved players and see if we can win this tournament when we come back. I'm Rosie from San Francisco, and I have a money joke for you. Why are coins so cool? Because they make big change.

If you have a Monday joke you'd like to share with us, go to marketplace.org slash million. Well, this is it. Time for the big public radio foosball tournament. I hope all your, um, I said I hope all your moneyball tactics result in a team good enough to unseat team This American Life as five-time foosball champions. Still with the voice, huh?

We only had $100, but I think we bought a better foosball team than podcasts with triple our budget. And if we win the tournament, we'll get even more money to work with next year. Well, well, well, if it isn't the two math whizzes from Million Pazillion. Excuse me, Ira Glass. I'm no math whiz. In fact, I can barely do math at all. So there. You think you're going to beat my team with your lovably imperfect ragtag group? Huh.

You're dreaming. Especially after I snagged your star player. That's right, amigos. Rodrigo's living this American high life now. I get all the tote bags I want. I get recognized at the farmer's market. Mike Birbiglia knows my name. We're paying him $1,000, but we'll make it all back in sales of Pompeii's too-hot-to-handle oven mitts. $1,000? We never had a chance.

All right, all you public radio personalities, welcome to our semi-annual public radio foosball tournament. This tournament is only possible through the generous support of podcasters like you. So hit it.

The general managers over at Millie and Bazillion think they've hacked the game with Saber metrics, but foosball requires instinct, experience, horse sense. I agree, Phil. You don't reinvent the game of foosball overnight. And the Millie Bazillies have started the tournament with a string of victories over This is Uncomfortable, Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me, and The Splendid Table. You gotta wonder if Bridget and Ryan were onto something with this Moneyball strategy. They've won three games in a row.

Bridget, after that third win, those half-a-head Doug Schwepp hats are selling like hotcakes. Yeah, and the tickets for our next game are actually sold out. And Million Bazillion schools the TED Radio Hour with another astounding victory. We've never seen a streak like this in casually played, low-stakes foosball.

Another Million Bazillion victory. Is it possible a Try Hard Kids podcast could sweep this whole tournament? I'm starting to think Bridget and Ryan have been right about everything the whole time. Everyone laughed when they assembled this team, but now Million Bazillion is crushing it at foosball. Doug Swett merchandise is flying off the shelves. The Bazillies ticket sales are through the roof. Yeah, and all that revenue is flowing into Million Bazillion to build an even more impressive roster for next year.

But this year, the real test is going to be them taking on this American life. Ira Glass snagged their star player, Rodrigo Pompey, this season. But can the Bazillies score a victory and win this entire tournament? Final round. Okay, Ryan, this is it. The final game. The big championship. If we win this one, we win the whole tournament.

Down to one minute remaining in a fourth quarter nail-biter. It's Million Bazillion and This American Life tied at 12 points apiece. The ball's with Rodrigo Pompey. Pompey kicks. Doug Schwepp, the goalie, with only half a head, blocks the shot, kicking it back. Pompey shoots again. Schwepp blocks again. It's a battle between the beauty, Pompey, and the beast, Schwepp, who did I mention has a chunk of his head missing. Pompey kicks again and it's a goal! With that,

This American Life, led by coach general manager Ira Glass, takes home the Public Radio Foosball Championship once again. This just goes to show, Bridget and Ryan had the wrong idea with their Moneyball approach. I was saying this all along. Yeah, I'm on the record too for never having believed it would work. Pompeii was worth every penny. Oh well, there's always next year.

Okay, team, hit the showers and clean out your lockers. Marketplace needs the space to store tote bags for the next pledge drive. Wait, Millie Bazillies, take a knee. I just want to say, we may not have won that final game of the tournament, but I'm proud of what you all did out there. We're proud of you too, Coach. You took a gamble, and it paid off. Did you see all the fans out there wearing half hats so they look like Doug Schwepp? Yeah, I guess that's cool we made people happy, and with all the money we brought in, we can...

build an even better team next year. Anyway, what did we learn about how athletes are paid from all this? Look, we left it all out there on the field. And along the way, we learned that all athletes get paid something to show up and play. And that's what matters, that we show up, that we play the game,

When players win their games, they're probably going to get paid more. And though we win as a team, star players are going to get paid as stars. Because when sports teams win, they make more money that they can pay to their best players. But even though these teams can make a lot of money during a season, no team has an unlimited budget. They're thinking about that budget when they're putting together the rest of the team. To assemble a good team, you need to have a good team.

You gotta keep all these factors in mind. And even though Ira Glass walked away with the foosball tournament trophy, again, I think we assembled a good team here. We sure did. And in sports, it's important to remember how very few players make it to the big leagues, let alone get paid millions and millions. No game is just about winning and losing. And no game is just about money either.

Okay, team. Time to roll you back into the storage closet until next year. No. Storage. Sorry, but they say it's a distraction to keep a foosball table in the office break room year round. Same time next year. And Doug Schwepp, you're getting a raise. Same time next year. Is our foosball team doing what I think they're doing? I think they're giving us a slow clap. Okay, nice try, but you guys are still going into storage. No. Storage.

All right, that's it for this episode of Million Bazillion. But guess what? We have a bonus episode this time for those of you who want to know how do Olympic athletes get paid? Check it out. It's in your podcast feeds right now. And don't forget to check out the tip sheet for this episode. Find it at our website. That's marketplace.org slash million. And while you're there, send us your question or an idea for an episode and maybe sign up for our newsletter. That's marketplace.org slash million.

Special thanks to Nola Agha, professor in the sports management program at the University of San Francisco, and also Victor Matheson at the College of Holy Cross for all of their help in explaining to me and Ryan how athletes get paid.

Million Bazillion is brought to you by Marketplace from American Public Media. This episode was written and hosted by me, Ryan Perez, and Bridget Bodner. And we feature the voices of Courtney Bergseeker, Brendan Dalton, Alex Hansen, Tim Lopez, Drew Jostad, Jay Siebel, Tony Wagner, and Becca Weidman. Million Bazillion's editor is Jasmine Romero. Our producers are Courtney Bergseeker, Menju Park, and Zoha Mullick. Marissa Cabrera is our senior producer.

Thank you.

And special thanks to the Ranzetta Family Charitable Fund and NextGen Personal Finance for providing the startup funding for this podcast and continuing to support Marketplace and our work to make younger audiences smarter about the economy. If Million Bazillion is helping your family have important conversations about money, consider making a one-time donation today at marketplace.org slash givemillion. And thanks for your support.

Hey, bazillionaires. We hope you enjoyed today's episode presented in partnership with Greenlight, the debit card and money app for kids and teens. Today, we learned about how athletes earn a living and how all their practice can really pay off. With Greenlight, you can practice how to set savings goals, track earnings, and even invest, just like the pros. And that knowledge always pays off.

Start managing your money like a champ with Greenlight. Join today at greenlight.com slash million.