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  • April 18, 2008 09:32 AM ET

first billionaire athelete?

yankeefan21142 (21-51-7) vs The Prodigy is Hawaiian for #1 (117-155-23)
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who has the best potential to be the first billionaire athelete? not saying its going to happen, but if it were going to who do u think it would be. my pick is tiger woods. he dominates like no one else has in their sport. plus golf can be played basically until you die. tiger has a TON of playing time left, unlike nfl, mlb, nhl, or nba players. if it were to happen, it would have to happen to tiger


Lebron James. When he signs with the Knicks and moves to NY he will be the omst recognizable figure in that city. He will surpass the Arod and Jeter billboards, he will suprass the revenues generated by any NY athelete. He is young enough and svvy enough to use his "brand" to get chedder. Think about what Jordan did and the fact that he still has endorsements and a successful business outside of the sport.

Here's the thing about golf, it's losign popularity. Ratings are down, and the number of people picking up the game or playing is about a third of what it was last year, and way down from the year before. Middle American's are feelign the pinch at the pump, and in their paychecks and simply can't afford to play. All of this means what? It means that with intrest dying down sponsorship deals will have to be reduced since organizations like Calloway, Titlist, and Nike Golf won't and are not brining in a much revenue as they once did.


i thought youd come back with lebron. first off, if he leaves cleveland, hes going to the nets, not the knicks. yes, the nets will be in nyc then, but lebron still wont be able to make 1 BILLION dollars there. he will sign a huge arod-type contract and make tons of money off endorsments, but he could easily have a career ending injury, he could just get bad, full of himself, you never know. in golf, you get paid if u win. tiger pretty much always has and will continue to pretty much always win. he will do this for 20+ years. lebron cant play that long. thats y tiger would make 1bil b4 lebron


I won't debate teh Nicks or the Nets, I will leave that to another TD.
Lebron won't get a billion dollar contract that much is true. However he will get HUGE money. With his ties to Jay-Z (a mogul in the rap game) and the fact that he is beloved by fans across the nation. He has the star appeal to get the major loot.

To your point about injuries, this is a theoretical TD, so yes anythign could happen. Tiger could get struck bylightning while playing, his wife could leave him, he could drive his navigator into a telephone pole. All of these things ARE POSSIBLE, but not very likely. Jordan didn't play that long and he is still pimpin hanes underwear, energizer batteries, gatroade, and even Jeter wears Jumpman 23 gear. King James's brand has that kind of potential. Tiger may have a headstart but Lebron has the appeal to do it as well.


im just saying basketball players have very short careers, and the endorsments afterwords wont last forever. tiger will have steady income his whole life playing golf, and he is a smart man who invests wisely. lebron truely is a star who will spend it as soon as he makes it. i highly doubt lebron will get to 1bill. its a real possiblilty for tiger though


BB players have short and long careers. It depends on what you define long and short as. Shaq is still around, Barkley Ewing, Malone they all played for quite a while. Also how do you know he will spend it? Do you manage his portfolio? To say that sounds like your saying young black males are dumb with their money. I hope that's not what your saying

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April 18, 2008  10:03 AM ET
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Tiger WILL be the first Billionaire Athlete, if he is not already. No one knows what his stock investments are but his "public" income in his career is probably already near a billion. Since 2000 he has been averaging 90 - 110 Million in income from his promotions to the negligible amount he earns from competing.

If he simply invested his money wisely and keeps his living and operating expenses somewhere below 30 Million a year!!! he will be there in a handful of years.

April 18, 2008  10:04 AM ET
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probably but i had to pick someone to argue against him

April 18, 2008  10:06 AM ET
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You could have mentioned Schumacher, the F1 Driver, who actually may be there already.

April 18, 2008  10:09 AM ET
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then everyoen would say racing isnt really a sport....see the predicament

April 18, 2008  10:13 AM ET
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LeBron is younger and Tiger is a dick.

April 18, 2008  10:24 AM ET
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JBL already is

April 18, 2008  10:33 AM ET
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Tiger is already halfway there (according to Forbes), and he's only recently started to see really huge sums.

There is no other athlete with the same potential earnings over a lifetime. No one else is even close.

April 18, 2008  10:39 AM ET
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i meant to say jordan didnt play 20+ years...sorry for any confusion

April 18, 2008  10:42 AM ET
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JBL is already a billionaire

April 18, 2008  12:35 PM ET
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Oprah.

April 18, 2008  12:50 PM ET
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Lebron is also meeting with Warren Buffett ....Lebron says he wants to be the richiest person in the world.

``He's a deep thinker and has a remarkable desire to learn more,'' Quicken Loans chairman and Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert says of James. ``He'll continue to amaze us all with what he does on the court, but what he's doing off the court is becoming just as impressive.''
What, exactly is LeBron doing off the court that's so impressive? Well, for one, he's studying Mandarin so that he will be able to chit-chat with the locals during the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. Yes, really.

Buffett, according to Forbes magazine, has a net worth of $42 billion, about $8 billion shy of LeBron's target, Microsoft's Bill Gates. At least LeBron has something to shoot for beyond a basketball hoop and a championship or two or three.

those are quotes....i don't want to be accused of stealing

April 18, 2008  12:52 PM ET
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While I agree with Lynch that Tiger is a dick, this is really something you can't even debate. According to all reports, Tiger's Billionaire status is pretty much locked up already, with Golf Digest predicting he will surpass that mark in 2010.

As much as I like what LeBron does, he will not beat Tiger to that.

April 18, 2008  02:04 PM ET
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bombers stop trying to turn me into a racist.

April 18, 2008  02:10 PM ET
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not trying to turn you into a racist..but you did say he would spend it all where did you come up with that from? Why accuse him of that?

 
April 18, 2008  06:18 PM ET
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Can expect a longer career.
1st choice for any endorsements in his sport with nobody else close.
Its a Billion - salary and winnings help, but to get to that mark you need endorsements (both will have a lot of investment return)

Gotta goTiger.

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