(Bloomberg) — Younger athletes navigating a burgeoning world of big-money sponsorship offers are teaming up with Financial institution of America Corp.’s monetary advisers to plot their monetary future.
BofA’s Merrill Wealth Administration and IMG Academy, the Florida-based highschool sports activities powerhouse, are partnering to supply financial-education to scholar athletes and their households, overlaying subjects together with saving and spending, credit score and investing.
This system shall be obtainable at IMG’s boarding college in Bradenton and on-line at first of the upcoming college yr, in keeping with executives.
“This era goes to be dealing with decision-making round monetary issues another way than different scholar athletes have previously,” Greg McGauley, head of Merrill Non-public Wealth Administration, mentioned in an interview. “They must be higher educated at a youthful age.”
Faculty sports activities has entered a brand new period as restrictions ease on gamers making a living, together with from their identify, picture and likeness, also called NIL. This has launched Division I athletics right into a monetary frenzy, with athletes bringing in thousands and thousands in model endorsements and advertising and marketing offers.
Complete NIL compensation for NCAA athletes will hit an estimated $1.67 billion throughout the 2024-25 college yr, in keeping with a report by the net market Opendorse, which tallied roughly 150,000 transactions involving greater than 100,000 athletes.
With college students athletes making a living throughout their faculty careers, some faculties have tapped monetary consultants to show gamers tips on how to handle their revenue. That course of will now begin earlier at IMG, positioned about an hour south of Tampa. The varsity, which counts Venus and Serena Williams as alumni, has lengthy despatched a stream of athletes to Division I faculties and finally the skilled ranks in sports activities together with soccer, soccer and basketball.
For the largest US banks, in the meantime, wealth administration has been a fast-growing, aggressive enterprise. They’ve poured sources into the sector as they attempt to lure new shoppers who convey with them extra belongings to speculate. Merrill began specializing in the sports activities business three years in the past when it created a devoted sports activities and leisure group. Purchasers in that unit make up about $40 billion in belongings, in keeping with McGauley.
As a part of the brand new partnership, Merrill will transfer a few of its 641 designated sports activities and leisure wealth advisers to IMG’s campus, he mentioned. They are going to host father or mother and scholar teach-ins, and simulations that present college students what it’s prefer to put money into an actual monetary market.
IMG has a boarding college, camps, faculty recruitment companies and on-line teaching for scholar athletes as they put together for school and careers in sports activities. The brand new program with Merrill will increase the curriculum to supply college students with self-study supplies and one-on-one conferences with monetary advisers.
“We hear lots of questions on monetary alternatives for scholar athletes at faculties, past scholarships,” IMG Academy Chief Govt Officer Brent Richard mentioned. “On this second, monetary schooling is the subsequent piece of the puzzle. Our job is to arrange them for school and for all times.”