Welcome to this week's episode of the Sports Curious podcast. We hope that you have been enjoying the Olympics. It has been an incredible feat of all kinds of talent and here to talk a little bit about how that talent makes money because guess what? Being a professional fencer doesn't pay the bills.
So let's talk a little bit about what these Olympians do for their day job and joining me today to talk about that is my favorite co -host, favorite brother, favorite co -founder of last night's game, Scott. Scott, welcome to the podcast. Thank you for having me. It's an honor to be here. And yeah, like you said, we're going discuss some of our nation's best athletes and the side hustles they have to make sure that they can afford to live in between Olympics.
Well, and it's not totally unusual for athletes to have other jobs, right? Minor league baseball players, they get paid for a small portion of the year, then they have to go have other jobs because they usually don't make enough money during the baseball season to pay their bills. So, but that's, I mean, that's the only sport that I could really think of as in a professional sort of setting that there tends to be side hustle jobs.
I think that in the past there has been some other like WNBA and maybe women's soccer and WSL in the past they've had to do that but you know they started ramping up pay to ensure that they don't have to have side hustles or go to Europe in the offseason to play so we've seen advancements in those sports so we're moving in the right direction. That's true. was, yeah, Brittney Griner going to Russia to play basketball. That definitely put an exclamation point on the need to pay differently.
Now, rolling into the Olympics, it's kind of interesting because the US does pay for medals and they pay $37 ,500 each athlete who wins a gold. Silver could net you about $22 ,500 and bronze is $15 ,000. Now, not everybody does that, It's kind of a nice little payday reward. It is if you're you know, if you're a Michael Phelps or Simone Biles and you're dozens of medals you're making taking home a lot of money and You know a lot of these sports don't have guaranteed contracts.
They're not making millions of dollars and things like that. So that gold medal money is massive for a lot of these athletes like we said like a fencer or canoe or a kayaker it goes a long way and also puts a lot Also puts a lot of pressure on you as That's true. Well, it's interesting. And if I remember correctly, this is a technically a bonus. So therefore it gets taxed like a bonus.
But I believe and I can look it up while we talk that they passed some legislation that these were not this was not taxable because that was silly to like take away. You're making fifteen thousand dollars represent your country and you're walking away with seventy five hundred bucks. Yeah, we know the IRS likes money, but I think they decided that these are national heroes inspiring our country, so there's no need to tax them on their blood, and tears to win these medals.
I don't know the name of the act, but I'll look it up while we chat. you know, it's interesting when we lived in Singapore, they pay their athletes, they get a million dollars for a gold medal, but they've only ever had one gold medalist. So there's so I mean, you take all the years that United States has been playing, paying their athletes, it probably equals about that. That was two or three Olympics ago. think they might've beaten Michael Phelps.
I don't know if I'm making that, I might be making that up. The guy from Singapore. I do remember this, yes. It's interesting. You think about that, like Michael Phelps, maybe he's pulled in and he's had 28 medals. So we did the math. He'd probably do all right on that piece, but that's not what's buttering his bread. No, but it certainly helped. Absolutely, absolutely. Now this year something happened. Track and Field, they're going to give their medalists $50 ,000 for gold medals.
Completely outside of, and no other sport is doing this, just Track and Field. But the world athletics, it's the governing body that oversees the track and field competitions, pledge that they're going to give $50 ,000 to each gold medal winner. that's every country, I'm not mistaken, right? That's not just the U .S. I think it's every country. No, that's a good question that I don't know the answer to.
I think you might be right I mean, it looks like it's going to equal out to about 2 .4 million once they pay out every gold medalist. And that's every track and field event. It's not just the 100 meter. It's shot put and javelin, all those different competitions. That's big for those competitors. Which that's a lot. Yes. Now, how does this look? athletes, Team USA has to raise the money to bring their athletes over to Paris.
We have the athletes village where they eat and sleep and all those things. what about USA, like USA basketball? They're not staying in the Olympic Village. How does that work? Yeah. So USA basketball, I think we've previously spoke on a podcast that just due to levels of fame and size, I don't think they can, they can't stay in the Olympic village. It would just be mass chaos at all times. So they are forced to stay in like an undisclosed hotel in Paris at this point.
And the way they pay for it, they aren't given a salary or anything to play for team USA. They're given a daily stipend to cover expenses and training and competition. as well as lodging. Interesting. Yeah, that's well, it's it's smart, right? Because you can't there's no way they could stay in the Olympic Village. They wouldn't fit in the beds.
But but the videos of the people doing all the jumping on the beds to prove that these quote unquote anti sex beds that are made of cardboard are okay is pretty amazing. It was that Tom Daley, I think he's the diver from Britain. His video made it seem that they're a lot more sturdy than I expected. The way he jumped on the band. I watched one and don't know where all these ladies, what they did for their athletics, but they were doing TikTok dances and jumping on the beds and doing the worm.
so, yeah, definitely. Yeah, and I was gonna say in Tom Daley, he's the one that he'll knit in between competitions, so. It's awesome. Well, he has like a whole lot, but you can like buy his stuff on his website. Speaking of side hustles, there you go. Full circle. So the athletes are not taxed. It's called the victory tax. So they don't have that same bonus issue that you and I might have if we get a bonus. Well, good for them. They're American heroes. That's exactly it.
so the interesting thing is we talked about, okay, USA men's basketball team gets a stipend. USA men's soccer is not paid while the women's team is. Yes, this was a, I remember they had the monumental CBA a few years ago that, you know, guaranteed equal pay for men and women, but the Olympics for the men doesn't fall in that category. for the men, it only includes world cup, Copa America and gold cup, which are other competitions. So the men's team is under 23 years old for the men's Olympics.
with three exceptions, so they're technically considered amateurs in this competition, although the entire team is made up of professionals. Interesting. Well, it is really interesting because if you think about it, I mean, you're rolling the dice right under 23. It's not your whole US men's team if you were playing in the World Cup. But the men are not as good as the women, obviously. The women have had a really great run in the Olympics.
It's been a while since we've seen the men even in the Olympics. Yes, and I assume that's why the Olympics was not included in the CBA. It's been a 16 year gap since the men actually made the Olympics. So I think if you're negotiating, would feel that that would be, you don't have much leverage in that situation. So hopefully moving forward, maybe next CBA, they'll be in the Olympics a few more times and they'll have more leverage. for now, they're not getting paid.
Yes. And the women make a pretty good amount of money as long as they win. Now, that's the number here in our notes. So the women earned $12 ,000 for every victory at the tournament. Does this include the Olympics? Yes. No, that is that is for the Olympics. Sorry, that's just for yes. and then if they earn gold, thirty six thousand dollars. well, the 37 ,500, right? and then I think that is an additional bonus on top of the gold medal bonus. That's not too bad.
And as I also received 10 ,000 to each player for being featured in a match. So they could come out. Yeah, that could come out to be a pretty good amount of money for That's fantastic. That's awesome. I love to a lot of these players, it'd probably equal their NWSL salary for two, three weeks as long as they win. I mean, Trinity Rodman's right. She's the one with the biggest or close to the top of the biggest salary. no. It's changed about five times. think it's Mallory Swanson.
to say, it Mallory? Yeah, Yeah, who did have two goals in their debut game. That's fantastic. Okay, so let's talk about what these athletes do. So we obviously know that LeBron does not have a side hustle, but what about, is there like a common thread between some of these athletes and what they do for work outside of their And researching for the podcast, I wouldn't say that there's one necessarily one thing that all these athletes are doing in the past.
Home Depot used to have a program that paid athletes to come work full time while the train, but unfortunately ended that in 2021. So that's no longer an option. That would have been a very common thread, but now they're kind of all over the place. I mean, there's so many athletes from so many different backgrounds. These. All these jobs I found are very diverse. There's a few that there's remote work involved, which is nice for them.
can work from wherever they are training all across the world. I think remote has helped a little Is there one that stands out at you and your research that you think, that's something I would have not thought There's actually quite a few doctors and engineers, which is so they're training, training nonstop, either going to med school, their doctors or their engineers. it's truly impressive what they're doing. That's incredible.
I mean, when you think about it, That's the pressure that comes with just alone being an engineer or being in med school, let alone throwing on top of, let's see, we have a, where did I just miss my notes here? We have a swimmer. We have a three on three basketball player. So it's not like these are sports where like, I mean, not that any of these Olympic sports are easy, right? Swimming requires an obscene amount of training. Rock climbing.
Jesse Grupper, a mechanical engineer who works remotely for a Harvard lab. No big deal. Yeah. So, I mean, it's truly impressive that the amount of time that goes into training and then to be able to even function or think, even to function or even think and be in different time zones across the world competing. Cause a lot of these competitions are spread out throughout the world.
Now, those of you who are finishing up your summer in San Diego, you won't see sprint canoe gold medalist, Nevin Harrison there, but if you happen to be at the country theme bar, Moonshine Beach in San Diego, she may be there when the Olympics are over because that's where she moonlights to help pay her bills. Yeah, hopefully. I mean, she's already a gold medalist, so hopefully she can add another gold medal to the repertoire and you can go pay a visit at Moonshine Beach in San Diego.
There you go. And then lastly, this is where I would go with it if I was tall enough and fit enough, but like, this is the best shape you're gonna be in your life. So the two fencers, Anne and Miles, they may moonlight as models. So that makes a whole lot of sense. mean, they cover up their faces to get hit in the... I don't what's the fencing instrument called? Do you have any idea?
Well, I was gonna say, thankfully they wear the masks that prevent them from getting stabbed in the face while fencing. I keep joking the tiny human needs to take up fencing because maybe he can get a scholarship or something. Okay, they use three weapons, foil, a light court sword, and an EP, a heavier dueling weapon, and a saber. Pretty intense. Okay, the foil is a light sword in epee -EPI. Sorry, I'm not a fencer Everybody don't write me a note.
Dueling weapon and then a saber, a light cutting sword. So yes, like a saber in Star Wars. That's where they probably got it from. so thankfully they wear the masks so they can still model after the Olympics. There you go. Things that you might as well do. Well, thanks for pulling us all together. Is there anybody that we missed that you want to talk about or anything that we didn't chat about that you want to catch us on in the end? Can I just highlight two people real quick?
So the first one is Canyon Barry, who plays on our three on three basketball team, which is as opposed to five on five. It's just three on three. He's the son of legend Rick Barry, who's known for shooting free throws underhand unlike everyone else. Yeah. Grandma style. So Rick Barry was long, long time legend. His free throw percentage is incredible. So his son plays for three on three. He also does the underhand and he's got a bachelor degree in physics and a master's in nuclear engineering.
And he's a systems engineer. Okay, no big deal. I do have a question for you. Why if he's so, if his accuracy is so great on his free throws in his career, dad's career, why aren't more people shooting underhand? Is that because like they're afraid of getting made fun of? Okay. many players that if they shot underhand, their percentage would be much improved, but they're just embarrassed to do it. I mean, yeah, mean, yeah, that's basically what it is.
They don't want to be embarrassed, shooting 48 % from free throw is also embarrassing. So, yeah, exactly. Okay, who's your other one you have? And then Gabby Thomas, she's a sprinter. She might be, she's one of the doctors slash medical school subjects we spoke about earlier. She went to Harvard, also University of Texas, where she earned her master's degree in public health and epidemiology. It's a big word.
And now she works, you know, in health clinic in Austin, Texas, and you'll see her running the 200 meter. So pretty incredible background she's It's just impressive because like I said, you know how hard these people train and the fact that they have these brilliant minds. But I mean, it's probably they're wired very similarly, right?
You have to have that dedication to be a student of medicine, et cetera, but you also have to have that type of wiring to be an athlete, like an Olympic level athlete. The concentration and the dedication, they are just wired that way. Absolutely. And as I said, hopefully they all went gold, everyone we spoke about, and maybe they won't have to work as much. That's true. There you go. Well, thanks for joining me for this week's podcast.
Look forward to those closing ceremonies and Jimmy Fallon and see what he pulls off Absolutely go USA. Go Team USA.