Definition of a professional athlete?

[dawmatt]

I saw an acquaintance being described online as a professional sportsperson, so I'm just curious about the definition, if there is one. They're a university student, competing internationally (in non-Covid times) and currently preparing for next year's Commonwealth Games. I think they have some financial sponsorship from more than one organisation/company. It's not a big spectator sport, and doesn't have prize money, so I don't think there would be another source of income. To be described as professional does the income have to reach a level where it's enough to live on, rather than just cover your costs of participating in the sport? Does the Government pay athletes some sort of grant if they're preparing for the Commonwealth Games/Olympics? (My daughter plays the same sport at a high level and sees this person as a bit of a role model).

I thought you had to be an amateur to compete in Commonwealth. Also that definition of professional athlete just meant being paid to compete e.g. professional footballer paid a salary. I could be wrong on either of those counts though.

I would class a professional athlete as somebody that does that as their main or only job

I work with somebody who is paid to play football at semi professional level but he's not seen as a professional footballer as it's not his main or only job. If he just did that he wouldn't be able to survive on that money alone. He also only gets paid if he's in the starting eleven or on the bench

Some sports people get grants via the national lottery funding.

The commonwealth games is contested by professionals.

Most athletes don’t make good if any money from the sport itself; even big names/Olympians will often have second jobs! When Beth Potter competed at 10k the 10km in the last olympics she was still a physics teacher, Hayley Carruthers is an elite/international marathon runner and she also works for the NHS.
There is funding available provided from the lottery, but it’s hugely competitive and fickle.
There’s also sponsorship deals but again this is fickle.
There is a level which you would assume professional but it rarely pays from prize money so a separate income stream is often needed. Unless you have a good sponsorship deal it’s usually coaching, but you get all sorts of professions competing at a very high level.

If the sport doesn’t have prize money they’ll get funding via the governing body for the sport.
So for example in gymnastics, once you become part of the national squad you get a stipend that allows you to train full time. Same with rowing, cycling etc. It means you have enough to live on whilst training. Top athletes in their sport can obviously make a lot on top via sponsorship and endorsements etc.
Before the national lottery most elite athletes had to work at least part time and train in their time off. Once lottery funding became available they could train full time. In 1996 we won 15 medals at the Olympics, with just one gold. In 2016 we won 67, with 27 golds - second overall behind the USA. Most of our medals come in sports where you don’t earn huge prize money so the lottery funding has been essential.

Many full-time athletes who compete in sports in which it isn’t possible to earn a living through prize money or sponsorship, eg swimming, rowing are supported by National Lottery funding. That’s why 🇬🇧 does so well at the Olympics these days.

Normally I'd think it was where it was their main job, but then I realised that I'd have classed Katherine Grainger as a professional athlete when she won all her Olympic medals. But it wasn't her only/main job, as she was also getting her PhD, which is a job in itself! (I think she's brilliant)

I still think that it being the main job is the base definition of a professional athlete though, even if there are exceptions.

Professional = you get paid enough for it to live on, whether that's from sponsorship, prize money or government funding.

Semi-professional = you get paid but need another source of income on top.

You can be elite (Olympic level) without being professional in that sense, depending on the sport.

@AgeLikeWine

Many full-time athletes who compete in sports in which it isn’t possible to earn a living through prize money or sponsorship, eg swimming, rowing are supported by National Lottery funding. That’s why 🇬🇧 does so well at the Olympics these days.

Seems a bit cheating for an armature event :p

To be a professional you have to be paid for your performance. Like a professional hockey player who earns a salary.

This used to be a clearer distinction as many sporting events, notably the Olympics, were only open to amateurs. This goes back to the classical understanding of what sport is - it was understood to be done for itself, as a kind of pure competition. If you get paid for it, it wasn't seen as sport as such, it was work.

Once the Soviets started putting their top notch athletes in the army so they could train full time, and the Americans started to develop a system of grants and sponsorships for the same reason, the distinction began to blur somewhat. Though I still remember when skaters would compete in one or more Olympic years, and then when they were just past their bet start to skate professionally in the Ice Capades or some other show.

Now it's not as important a distinction in many sports.