Whether they sustain a career-ending injury or simply come to recognize that the years have taken their toll and their performance has started to slide, retirement is something that few professional athletes ever feel ready to face. Having spent years giving their all for the sport, walking away from it can feel like the end of a dream, often leaving the player with a lack of identity and purpose and feeling like they have lost the sense of family that comes with professional team sports.
However, many pro athletes have gone on to forge an incredibly successful leap from sports to the business world, marking the start of a whole new chapter in their lives. In this article, we look at four Major League Baseball (MLB) stars who left sports to build successful business empires.
1. Randall Thompson
A former pitcher for the Toronto Blue Jays, Randall Thompson is the founder and president of Dugout Mugs. He came up with the concept for his company while sitting in the dugout, listening to hitting coach Matt Mercurio. Mercurio was giving the lesson using a bat with the barrel cut off, making it easier for hitters to watch their hands while swinging. Seeing this, Thompson wondered whether it might be possible to drill out the barrel and turn it into a cup.
Retailing at $49 each, Thompson’s baseball bat mugs earned him an impressive $1 million in 2017. The Toronto Blue Jays even ordered 4,600 mugs as thank-you gifts for season-ticket holders.
Dugout Mugs is a company that has demonstrated rapid, strong growth. Its value rose from $50,000 in early 2017 to almost $5 million by the end of 2019. With several projects in the pipeline, including league affiliations, charity efforts, influencer campaigns, and a potential baseball business incubator, the business shows no signs of slowing anytime soon.
2. Alex Rodriguez
Born to Dominican immigrants, Alex Rodriguez showed a talent for baseball from a young age, when he practiced with a rubber ball and plastic bat. Rodriguez played baseball and football in high school, generating a buzz as an accomplished shortstop long before he graduated college.
Rodriguez was signed by the Seattle Mariners, making his debut as a professional player at the age of 17. Rodriguez played for several teams over the years before signing with the New York Yankees, remaining with the team until his retirement in 2017. In an exceptional MLB career, Rodriguez earned a staggering $441 million in salary and $40 million from brand endorsements.
Having amassed such colossal wealth, Rodriguez could easily afford to stop working. However, he decided to invest in promising businesses capable of providing lucrative returns. In addition to working as a broadcaster and media personality, he is also a co-owner of A-Rod Corp, a company valued at $1 billion that has invested in more than 30 businesses over the last decade. In addition, Rodriguez also owns stakes in BounceX, Artsy, and the private jet charter specialist Wheels Up.
3. Todd Stottlemyre
Todd Stottlemyre joined the Toronto Blue Jays in 1988, becoming a major league pitcher at the age of 22. He played for a total of 15 seasons and was selected for three World Championships Teams.
After retiring from baseball, Stottlemyre ventured into the world of business. He began working for a Wall Street firm before launching his own investment fund.
Today, Todd Stottlemyre owns a global marketing business. He works with some of the world’s most promising entrepreneurs and addresses audiences across the United States, inspiring delegates to think big and create goals and strategic roadmaps to drive their enterprises to success.
4. Adrian Gonzalez
When Adrian Gonzalez retired from Major League Baseball towards the end of 2012, the longtime Los Angeles Dodgers player found a new way of sharing his love for the sport with his fans. Gonzalez, who for years was assigned the moniker El Titan, launched Titan23, a baseball-related app available for download on both iOS and Android.
Gonzalez ventured into the world of entrepreneurship long before he retired from professional sports. He has interests in the food service sector, an apparel company, a stake in Calidad Beer, and his own line of cigars.
In an interview published by Forbes, Gonzalez said he had a lot of great advice that helped ensure he was set up once he stopped playing. He acknowledged that a lot of athletes think they will just play golf once they retire, but as he points out, it often does not work out that way. Gonzalez made many modest investments in business ventures while he was still playing. He also takes a great deal of pride in his Jersey Mike’s franchises, which now has 11 stores across San Diego and continues to grow.