# The logistics of being a professional athlete **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [November 28, 2017, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-logistics-of-being-a-professional-athlete/802976 "2017-11-28T20:21:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2017, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-logistics-of-being-a-professional-athlete/802976/21 "2017-11-29T13:53:54Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > Who handles the logistics for individual athletes, like pro golfers? They’re in one city for several days for tournaments, have their own equipment to bring, and a caddie that travels with them. Does the caddie do all the planning off the course, too, or is there someone else in the entourage for that stuff? While I suspect the TOP names have entourages (or, at least, personal assistants) who handle all of their day-to-day, travel, and business arrangements, I don’t know how far down that reaches. And most (all?) pros have agents. I imagine the agency contract would cover how much the agent does to earn his/her cut. A couple of years back I read an article about Davis Love III on a trip. Several years past his prime, but still a big name. And it was full of mundane chores such as arranging for his dry cleaning. I often think of travel being glamorous and money being no object to these guys, but in this article, DL3 was basically just staying in a hotel, having to entertain and feed himself in his off time. Golfers have to house themselves. They often rent - and share - private homes near the course the week of a tourn. They - and caddies - get comped tons of food at the course. And they have fitness facilities at the course. But they are the same as us. If they are just sleeping in a room, they need to decide whether it is worth them to pay $69.95 or $1k a night - or somewhere in the middle. Golfers do get comped things such as cars during tournaments. I figure one of the reason so many of them wear logos from jet-sharing companies is because they use them. Golfers who have exemptions (which is truly a fascinating topic. Exemptions are THE biggest factor once you have your tour card) have the flexibility to travel home between tournaments. Tho a tourn is generally Thurs-Sun, Wed is generally practice day, and Tues is Pro-Am. I believe players are generally expected to be at both. Qualifying is on Monday. But a lot of players live in the SW/Cal, or Fla. After starting in Hawaii, the tour goes to Cal, then to Fla. When it is in those areas, a lot of the top players essentially commute - at least for some tourneys. A couple of the top players have pilot’s licenses, and some own their own jets. I really don’t know what the caddie is responsible for off the course. I suspect the golfer keeps the equipment near him while travelling, rather than the caddie. As someone said, guys who are starting out, lower on the list, likely hire a caddy the week of the tournament. Some have to show up on Monday to qualify to play the tourn. I imagine pros make AMPLE use of recaps and such to schlep their luggage around. As a side note - golf is the one sport I pay the most attention to. And it is very stark in the fact that money earned is the prime ranking factor (other than winning certain bigname tourneys.) A while back I tried to figure out how much other individual athletes earned. Liker downhill skiers. And I really found it hard to locate such info. I do believe tennis players and race car drivers are consistently among the highest paid individual athletes. Of course, when talking income, endorsements a whole nuther matter. Finally, I believe all sports organizations have “intro courses” for new players and rookies, basically trying to explain some basics about how to live the pro life. I remember hearing the PGA advises to tip well. And I remember hearing NBA and NFL stressing investments. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2017, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-logistics-of-being-a-professional-athlete/802976/22 "2017-11-29T16:24:16Z")
During Tiger Woods problems with his extra marital affairs I recall his caddy made a big point of saying he knew nothing about all of that stuff. He changed caddies a few years after that . ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2017, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-logistics-of-being-a-professional-athlete/802976/23 "2017-11-29T22:05:40Z")
> [@Happy\_Lendervedder](#): > > Now this is an interesting nugget of information! I had no idea it was taxed that way. Is there a reason it’s just for football players? I mean, I understand that baseball, hockey and basketball players aren’t paid per game because that would be ridiculously complicated, what with multiple locations per week and all, but why are football players paid per game instead of just bi-weekly (or monthly) paychecks, and taxed in their home state? IIRC this was an issue a couple of years ago. I think the theory is that you “work” in your home state like if your company is in New York and you work in New York almost year round but you drive to Maryland for 10 days of work then NY taxes you for the whole year and MD does not tax you on 2.74% of your income. ---
**Author:** ![Icarus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icarus/32/72_2.png) [@Icarus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icarus)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2017, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-logistics-of-being-a-professional-athlete/802976/24 "2017-11-29T22:15:30Z")
> [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > IIRC this was an issue a couple of years ago. I think the theory is that you “work” in your home state like if your company is in New York and you work in New York almost year round but you drive to Maryland for 10 days of work then NY taxes you for the whole year and MD does not tax you on 2.74% of your income. Nope, you get taxed where you earn the money (I’m a traveling consultant, it’s the same for me as for pro sports folks). There is even a term for it for the high paid players: [Jock Tax](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jock_tax) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-logistics-of-being-a-professional-athlete/802976.md?page=1)