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NFTs and the Olympics: Giving Olympians proper compensation
While some Olympic athletes are able to earn a nice payday for endorsement deals post-Olympics or parlay their fame into the work sector, here’s an idea to immediately allow them to capitalize on their years of hard work, dedication, and quest for perfection.
As the Tokyo Summer Olympics near, my gymnast daughter has been binging on prior Olympic and national contests on YouTube. Surprised at seeing that many former gymnastic Olympians are now coaches, I dug a little deeper to see what kind of compensation our athletes get and how to increase it so that they can maximize their relatively short Olympic careers.
In 2018, US Olympians earned a $37,500 bonus for winning a gold medal, $22,500 bonus for winning silver, and $15,000 to an athlete winning bronze. Team medals bonuses were split evenly amongst the team members. Clearly, US Olympic athletes are not competing for the money. This is not a bad thing. The pride of winning and being one of or the best in your sport is quite an achievement that no one can ever take away. With that said, Olympians unable to get the endorsement deals shouldn’t be required to dedicate their lives to a national sport without proper compensation.
Enter the NFT. This past year, NBA Top Shots has generated $230 million in sales of their digital collectibles. The idea…
