Yes, Ancient Olympic Athletes Had Sponsorship Deals, Too

Over on my Forbes blog, I discuss how ancient Olympians made money from games that–at least technically–only gave out a corona of leaves and a palm frond to the victor. I also get into some financial subjects that, if you know me, I discuss a lot: how socio-economic privilege made athletic training and thus success easier for the wealthy than for, say, day-laborers, farmers, and lower-level artisans. Agents, sponsorships, training, and guild membership were all concerns for the ancient athlete, just as they are for the modern Olympian. That makes the modern offering of financial literacy programs and the implementation of GoFundMe pages all the more important among today’s athletes.