Crypto Salaries: The Future of Major League Sport? : Tech Daily

A new report from The Action Network reveals how much the highest paid NFL stars would have made investing their salaries into crypto over the last two years.
Between 2020 to 2021, Patrick Mahomes annual investment of $45M into Bitcoin would have netted him over $158.8M.
Between 2021 to 2022, the same investment would have made him $36.2M – a $8.8M loss.

The rise of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies has taken the world by storm. With its meteoric rise over the last decade and hitting highs of around $68,000 in November 2021¹, the digital currency has generated some serious media attention and interest.

Becoming more mainstream, many people have started investing, with some athletes even deciding to jump on the mania by accepting their salaries in crypto. Most notably with Odell Beckham Jr. who announced in November he would take his $750,000 salary in Bitcoin². But due to the crypto market’s volatility and uncertainty, is this a good idea?

A new report from The Action Network reveals how much the highest paid NFL stars would have made and lost investing in Bitcoin and Ethereum during 2020-21 and 2021-22 (based on their current salaries). By dollar cost averaging their weekly salaries into both currencies during these times, the report highlights the serious gains and losses that could have been.

Bitcoin Gains 2020-21

NFL stars would have made serious gains in Bitcoin investments between 2020/21. If Patrick Mahomes invested his annual salary ($45M) into Bitcoin between 2020 and 2021, he would have accumulated a massive $114M – increasing his earnings to around $159M. Buffalo Bills’, Josh Allen, would have followed closely behind Mahomes earning over $150M through his Bitcoin investments.

Below is a list of the top-5 highest paid NFL stars in order of money made through investing their weekly salary into Bitcoin between 2020-2021:

Rank	Player	Total Invested	Weekly	Total Accumulated	Total Now
1	Patrick Mahomes	$45,000,000	$863,013	$113,859,000	$158,859,000
2	Josh Allen	$43,005,667	$824,766	$108,812,939	$151,818,606
3	Dak Prescott	$40,000,000	$767,123	$101,208,000	$141,208,000
4	Deshaun Watson	$39,000,000	$747,945	$98,677,800	$137,677,800
5	Russell Wilson	$35,000,000	$671,232	$88,557,000	$123,557,000

Bitcoin Losses 2021-22

Due to the crypto market’s volatility, Bitcoin investments could also leave many out of pocket. For Mahomes, Bitcoin investments between 2021 and 2022 could have taken his position away as the highest-paid player. If Mahomes invested his $45,000,000, he could’ve sacrificed nearly afifth of his wage, seeing a decrease of over $8.7M.

For the top five highest paid NFL stars, losses would have all been north of $6.8M.

Below is a list of the top-5 highest paid NFL stars in order of money lost through investing their weekly salary into Bitcoin between 2021-2022:

Rank	Player	Total Invested	Weekly	Total Accumulated	Total Now
1	Patrick Mahomes	$45,000,000	$863,013	-$8,779,500	$36,220,500
2	Josh Allen	$43,005,667	$824,766	-$8,390,406	$34,615,261
3	Dak Prescott	$40,000,000	$767,123	-$7,804,000	$32,196,000
4	Deshaun Watson	$39,000,000	$747,945	-$7,608,900	$31,391,100
5	Russell Wilson	$35,000,000	$671,232	-$6,828,500	$28,171,500

Ethereum Gains 2020-21

Patrick Mahomes missed out on millions in 2020, having the potential to earn almost 10 times more by investing his salary into Ethereum. The top five highest paid players could have earned an astounding amount, with Josh Allen and Dak Prescott both securing over $350M extra over the year.

Below is a list of the top-5 highest paid NFL stars in order of money made through investing their weekly salary into Ethereum between 2020-2021:

Rank	Player	Total Invested	Weekly	Total Accumulated	Total Now
1	Patrick Mahomes	$45,000,000	$863,013	$357,453,000	$402,453,000
2	Josh Allen	$43,005,667	$824,766	$341,611,215	$384,616,882
3	Dak Prescott	$40,000,000	$767,123	$317,736,000	$357,736,000
4	Deshaun Watson	$39,000,000	$747,945	$309,792,600	$348,792,600
5	Russell Wilson	$35,000,000	$671,232	$278,019,000	$313,019,000

Ethereum Losses 2021-22

Like Bitcoin, Ethereum witnessed a slight decline during 2021. For Patrick Mahomes, investing his salary into Ethereum in 2021 would have left his bank account slightly in the red – losing $2.2M. The other highest paid players would have faced a similar fate, collectively losing about $8M.

Below is a list of the top-5 highest paid NFL stars in order of money lost through investing their weekly salary into Ethereum between 2021-2022:

Rank	Player	Total Invested	Weekly	Total Accumulated	Total Now
1	Patrick Mahomes	$45,000,000	$863,013	-$2,209,500	$42,790,500
2	Josh Allen	$43,005,667	$824,766	-$2,111,578	$40,894,089
3	Dak Prescott	$40,000,000	$767,123	-$1,964,000	$38,036,000
4	Deshaun Watson	$39,000,000	$747,945	-$1,914,900	$37,085,100
5	Russell Wilson	$35,000,000	$671,232	-$1,718,500	$33,281,500

For more information and to see data for the top-20 highest paid NFL stars, please visit the site here: https://www.actionnetwork.com/crypto/crypto-salary-growing-nfl-trend.

[ENDS]

Source

Crypto Salaries Methodology

To collect the data, salaries of the highest paid NFL stars were obtained through Spotrac. Each NFL stars average annual income was divided by 52 to get their weekly salary. These weekly figures were then ‘Dollar Cost Averaged’ (DCA) into Bitcoin and Ethereum to reveal ROI if invested weekly through the years 2020-2021 and 2021-2022.

About The Action Network

Launched in October 2017, The Action Network provides premium sports betting analysis, real-time odds and in-depth data and tools, via its website and app. Serving millions of users across its web and app platform, as well as its social handles, Action has been featured in The New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, CNBC, ESPN, Fox Sports, Sports Business Journal, and dozens of other media outlets as the leading source for news, information, and primary data in sports betting.

Tech Daily