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Chris Clark's avatar

If you want to massively increase your lifetime expected earnings, sports scholarships - particularly to US universities - would be easy to overlook. The chances of any child making more than they would do doing a real job from sport is very small. But there is a pretty decent chance of very significantly increasing expected lifetime expected earnings through a sports scholarship. I played a decent level of schoolboy rugby and there were plenty of good private schools out there in England who were offering free places to talented youngsters (boys).

Cricket, though, is not going to get you a US sports scholarship. I think this massively changes the overall economics of the sport as a potential money earner. Rowing, with almost no potential for professional enrichment, gets lots of boys and girls through good universities debt free. And probably should rank above cricket as a result.

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Russell Clark's avatar

Although hasn't the rowing/lacrosse route to university been tainted by corruption??

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Chris Clark's avatar

Not sure. Harder to fake being an elite rower than a team sport like lacrosse, I'd imagine.

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Russell Clark's avatar

Fair point.. but maybe the better analogy is cricket is a posh sport in the UK just like rowing and lacrosse is a posh sport in the US. 60 percent of the English national side is privately educated....

But then suddenly this sport goes from posh sport to global sport (due to India)... its windfall profits?!? I guess thats what I am getting at

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Russell Clark's avatar

Excellent observation

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Feral Finster's avatar

If you are female, I am not sure that any team sport pays all that well.

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Russell Clark's avatar

US Women's Football Team does ok - but still lags golf and tennis

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