Few lines of work are more precarious than the American footballer's-his average professional career is limited to just 3.2 years. However, for the handful of stars who stay healthy, football can offer a decent living: Peyton Manning, the Denver Broncos' quarterback, has pulled in over $2oom. Given this uncertainty, football players have a strong incentive to lock in a base level of compensation. Other celebrities, most famously the singer David Bowie, have used their income streams to secure debt. But salaries in the National Football League (nfl) are so mercurial they could never be used as collateral. The only way for athletes to share their risk fully is to sell an equity interest in their earnings.
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