List of Broke Athletes: 5 Athletes Who Went Broke

By Amelia Walker Senior Content Writer Updated: 02 June 2023

Amelia Walker Senior Content Writer

Amelia Walker is a Senior Content Writer at Betting.US. She has a law degree and deep knowledge of the gambling laws in the United States. Her mission is to keep players informed about responsible gambling, while her passion for sports helps her create useful guides. Amelia has over a decade of experience in betting, which has positioned her as a trusted voice among our readers.

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Our List of Broke Athletes

• Athletes Who Went Broke
• Broke Professional Athletes
• Tyson’s Fall from Grace
• Michael Vick’s Debt Battle
• Terrell Owens’ Cash Struggles
• Dennis Rodman’s Money Woes
• Lawrence Taylor’s Downfall
• Frequently Asked Questions

Top athletes who went broke is a regular topic in newspapers and online. Despite their immense talent and huge paychecks, many athletes find themselves facing financial ruin. Overspending, poor investments, and costly legal battles have led to several super high-profile athletes losing it all, with only some managing to get back on track.

In today’s post, we’ll look at a list of broke athletes and study their stories to see what went wrong, and how others can learn from their mistakes.

Athletes Who Went Broke

With all the athletes who went broke during their careers, it’s hard to summarize the topic in a single blog. It’s even harder for many of us to imagine multi-millionaires going broke in the first place.

Many of these athletes reached the top of their sports, earning millions of dollars in salaries, sponsorships, and endorsements, only to lose it all. Unfortunately, we continue to see athletes making headlines for all the wrong reasons, with some of the most famous listed on this page.

Why Are There Broke Professional Athletes?

In the world of broke professional athletes, there’s no shortage of stories that serve as a warning to younger athletes. Of course, there are many factors that contribute to financial downfall – excessive spending, bad investments, and high-stakes legal battles, to name a few.

The sad reality is that for athletes, as quickly as they earn their money, they can lose it. The pressure to maintain a lavish lifestyle which is in the public eye, almost 24 hours a day, seven days a week, can add significant issues to an already stress-filled life.

It’s easy to assume that with so much money at their disposal, these athletes would have no trouble securing their future. Another unfortunate reality is that managing a lot of wealth is not an easy task, especially when fame and success in the sporting industry can be so volatile. Without proper financial planning, guidance, and self-control, even the most successful athlete can find themselves on a slippery slope to bankruptcy.

In this blog, we will take a closer look at the stories of five such athletes: Mike Tyson, Michael Vick, Terrell Owens, Dennis Rodman, and Lawrence Taylor. They were all world-class athletes in their prime, before their personal and professional lives took a turn for the worse. We’ll look into their stories and find out what happened to these sportsmen.

Tyson’s Fall from Grace

Number one on our list of broke athletes is Mike Tyson. His life is a dramatic one, filled with soaring heights and crushing lows. As the youngest heavyweight boxing champion in history, Tyson dominated in the ring, and before long he’d managed to amass a staggering fortune of around $300 million. Unfortunately, this extreme wealth wasn’t to last long for him.

Tyson’s extravagant spending knew no bounds, and he spent tens of millions of dollars at a time, buying luxury cars, mansions, and even a pet tiger. However, his riches-to-rags story doesn’t end there, as he also faced extensive legal problems. For example, he ended up with a conviction for rape, and also went through a divorce, costing him millions of dollars.

As his fame started to fade, Tyson’s personal life spiraled even further out of control. His struggle with addiction had an awful impact on his boxing career and finances, and in the end, Tyson ended up going bankrupt. While he managed to make some of this fortune back, his story should serve as a cautionary tale for those who are starting to come into money for the first time.

Michael Vick’s Debt Battle

Michael Vick’s journey to financial ruin is a different story. A gifted NFL quarterback, Vick was first drafted into the NFL back in 2001. He played amazingly for the Atlanta Falcons and made a significant impact in the game thanks to his insane running ability and thousands of passing yards.

Unfortunately, Vick’s life took a dark turn when he was convicted of running an illegal dog fighting ring. The scandal cost him almost everything, as he lost all his lucrative contracts, sponsorships, and he even went to prison, spending nearly two years behind bars.

However, broke professional athletes don’t always stay broke, and Vick is one of the lucky ones. After his two-year stint in jail was up, he managed to return to the NFL. In 2009, he was signed by the Philadelphia Eagles and managed to negotiate a $15 million salary he could retire on.

Terrell Owens’ Cash Struggles

Terrell Owens, an NFL superstar who was best known for his ability to make stunning catches and score amazing touchdowns, managed to earn millions upon millions of dollars during his prime. Unfortunately, he is also the next of the broke pro athletes we’re looking at today.

Like Tyson, Owens liked to spend, and he would spend millions of dollars on huge mansions and supercars. He even paid a reported $1 million+ for a luxury bed.

It wasn’t just his excessive spending, however, that caused him to go broke. Owens also made ill-advised investments, although he was using a financial advisor who mismanaged his funds. Additionally, he was faced with huge child support payments that didn’t help an already-burdensome situation.

Owens’ financial issues became public knowledge during an emotional interview. He’s managed to keep things surprisingly secretive since then. It’s unclear how much of his fortune he managed to make back, but again, Owens’ story serves a reminder of what poorly managed finances can do to someone.

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Dennis Rodman’s Money Woes

Dennis Rodman, one of the most eccentric NBA players of all time, was a sensation on the court. He made huge amounts of money, believed to total hundreds of millions, although his on-pitch skill and his wild hairstyles weren’t enough to keep him on the rails.

Rodman’s spending habits were as wild as his hair. He loved living a luxury lifestyle, and was always indulging in the most expensive cars, spending millions of dollars on vacations – he even visited North Korea on several occasions and ended up becoming friends with Kim, the nation’s dictator.

ABC news reported in 2012 that Rodman was struggling with an alcohol addiction, and this caused him to file court papers that stated he was no longer able to afford to pay child support. He owed his wife around $800,000 at the time, a result of the $50,000/month in child support he was meant to be paying her.

Unfortunately, Rodman’s mental health also suffered greatly, and his story is an important reminder that even the most talented athletes can fall prey to financial disaster. Professional athletes going broke isn’t something new, and Rodman definitely won’t be the last.

Lawrence Taylor’s Downfall

Lawrence Taylor, an NFL Hall of Famer and one of the greatest linebackers of all time, had a career that many athletes could only dream of. Unfortunately, behind his incredible success on the field, Taylor’s life was littered with problems that would ultimately contribute to his financial ruin.

Taylor’s downfall can be traced back to his struggles with substance abuse. In the 80s he failed drugs tests twice, before then abstaining for years. Unfortunately, his addiction returned after he retired, causing him to go into rehab twice in 1995.

Taylor filed for bankruptcy in 1998, and, in later years, was also charged with tax evasion as well as avoiding child support. He was also convicted of having sex with an underage prostitute and was arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol.

Today, he’s worth a reported $200,000. That may sound a lot to many, but considering he used to earn millions per season, it’s a fraction of what he was once worth.

For a short list of more athletes who went broke, check out some of the names below, who ended up losing almost everything: