30 For 30 Broke: Movie Analysis

ESPN’s 30 for 30, Broke, explores the lives of professional athletes who have gone bankrupt or faced financial issues after their careers. Through multiple interviews with retired NFL, NBA, and MLB players, the viewer gets an understanding that money is very powerful when you are a professional athlete. From spending it on jewelry, woman, cars, and houses these athletes did understand that money can dwindle quickly. Not only did these athletes spend on household items but players lost money through gambling, paying agents, and even had issues with paying their own taxes. ESPN does a great job explaining the culture of money from both an athlete’s perspective and a business side.
The age of the professional athletes in the video was a major factor for the pros decline in income. These professional athletes were all in their early twenties and coming right out of college. Each athlete that was interviewed explained how they received the first paycheck and putting towards items they did not need. Some players like Rickie Henderson framed his first paycheck or some players did not even have a bank account. These players have no business background or did not learn how to control their money before turning pro. Professional athletes did not think about how much they were spending, only thought about how they can show it

If one player would purchase something expensive than the other player had to go buy something more flashy. This led to players overspending and unaware of their money. Athletes also conformed to the hip-hop culture as some players started their own record companies or tried to release an album. During the time hip-hop moguls such as Jay-Z was releasing songs and players wanted to conform to the clothing he was