Michael Strahan, Pharrell, Join To Educate Athletes About Their Finances At NKSFB Sports Wealth Summit

It’s been stated that most professional athletes end up financially unstable within 5 years after their sporting careers are over.

In an effort to better educate athletes who may not have the financial guidance afforded to more popular and successful players, the inaugural NKSFB Sports Wealth Summit took place last week from Tuesday, July 6th – Thursday, July 8th in sunny Aspen, Colorado.

The NKSFB Sports Wealth Summit was organized to try to combat the lack of resources and/or education some athletes may not have access to.

Craig Brown, Partner and Co-Head of the Sports Business Division at NKSFB and NKSFB Sports Co-Founder, who helmed the inaugural event explained what the summit was about, “First, this was not a traditional wealth summit, but one focused on fostering an understanding (in a broad sense for these guys) of all things pertaining to ‘wealth.’ Not just from a financial standpoint, but learning about wine, art, and the psychology behind why we make the decisions we make about money.”

The summit started with a great reception that welcomed the athletes and executives to the Aspen Art Museum where Jay Fletcher, who is a Fine Wine and Master Sommelier was able to introduce his craft in identifying the various wines presented as he gave way to the words of Grammy Award Winning Producer, Entrepreneur & Philanthropist, Pharrell Williams. With this introduction to the summit, most of the athletes were ready to experience the varied plethora of speakers who would add value to the knowledge that would be accumulated throughout the summit.

During the week, speakers indulged the audience within the subject areas of fine arts, technology, investment strategies, angel investing, venture capital, cryptocurrency, real estate, cannabis, and money management, among other things that could add to a successful portfolio.

“This was a one-of-a-kind event, bringing such a diverse group of people together and covering such varied subject matters. Going into this, we knew that all the topics would not be of interest to all the guys, but the goal was to give them a taste of everything to find what areas resonated with them. Some guys may have left thinking they want to explore more about the art market; for some, it’s real estate, others cannabis, or getting into media. By introducing them to all these areas, it allowed them to find what they are passionate about,” Brown tells BLACK ENTERPRISE.

The esteemed speakers were the likes of notable professionals such as former National Football League Hall of Famer Good Morning America Co-Host, Michael Strahan, Pérez Art Museum Miami’s Franklin Sirmans, Owner of the National Basketball Association’s Memphis Grizzlies and Art Collector Elliott Perry, Artist Theaster Gates, Executive Vice President, and Chief Marketing Officer for BET Networks, Kimberly Evans Paige, Private Equity Investor, Technology & Energy CEO Solomon Ali, Former NBA player and Owner of The Harrington Group and Viola Brands, Al Harrington, Jackson | Shah & Company’s Adrian Muhammad, Phillips Concessions’ Ramona Hall, Woodwater Group/Miami Black Angels’ Barron Channer, and Andreesen Horowitz’s Chris Lyons.

With this being the inaugural event, it looks like this is the start of something that can be big for the sports industry and especially for athletes looking to use their finances in a very significant way during and post-career.

Brown says, “I am quite confident the summit was a complete success based on the reactions of the players. I’ve had multiple guys reach out to ask when we are doing the next event, and would it be okay to bring some of their teammates even if they are not NKSFB clients. The fact that they want to continue this educational journey is all the proof I need to know it was a success.”