There was a time, before TV deals brought untold riches to the game, when retiring soccer players had little in the bank and few options for the rest of their lives.
However, as the boom of the past two decades has transformed the business fortunes of big clubs, so has it opened up new vistas for cashed-up players when they end their on-pitch careers.
The boom has been accompanied by the revolution in technology and some of soccer’s greatest names of recent years, such as Luis Figo and Ronaldinho, are busy in the digital realm.
Photo: EPA
The former greats outlined their post-career interests at the Web Summit, an annual meeting of technology start-ups and business heads known as “Davos for geeks.”
At the week-long conference, Figo presented a new mobile app that lets talented young players film themselves and engage with a community of club scouts worldwide.
“Technology is an area were everybody wants to be. Everyone tries to find the market niche that allows you to succeed,” the former Portugal captain told a panel at the summit in his home town of Lisbon.
“Our career is short and you have to start a new life at around 35 years old, but we don’t all want to be football coaches,” he said.
Figo’s project, called Dream Football, started five years ago as a basic Web site that today has about 100,000 users.
After a glittering and lucrative career with giants including Barcelona and Real Madrid, the 44-year-old Figo could afford to put his feet up in retirement, but says: “I’ve always loved to do business.”
Former Manchester United and France striker Louis Saha has started a company called Axis Stars to give sportspeople a digital platform to market themselves in, or as they approach, retirement.
“Agents are around when you’re making a lot of money, but when you retire you’re not an asset any more, so you struggle to find sponsors, business opportunities or good advice to invest,” he said in Lisbon. “With Axis Stars you keep the contacts and opportunities can arrive from anywhere.”
Saha’s digital network has about 250 members, including former Manchester United teammate Rio Ferdinand, French tennis star Gael Monfils and rugby union player Maxime Mermoz. He hopes to build it up to 1,000 participants within two years.
Ronaldinho is exploiting his name recognition to promote a video-sharing platform called Zoome TV, on which he plans to feature in his own reality show.
“The world is advancing with technology. It’s a new field for me to adapt to and I’m learning something new every day,” he said.
The post-game careers of bygone players missed out on the financial boom in soccer that started in the 1990s, notably with the advent of the Premier League. English players who did not make into coaching or punditry often used to end up taking over pubs in their retirements. Neil Webb, an FA Cup winner with Manchester United in 1990, sold match-day programs for Reading before taking a job as a mailman.
In contrast football players have been richly rewarded for far longer.
Terrell Owens, the NFL wide receiver who became a byword for off-field controversy, discussed in Lisbon how to build a brand in and out of sport.
Somewhat ironically given the public relations firestorms that accompanied his career, Owens is promoting a virtual communications assistant to stay in better touch with fans.
“Communication wasn’t my strongest suit, and that hindered me personally and in my business,” he said in Lisbon. “The fanbase that I built while I was playing keeps me in the game.”
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