Sports Exchange: Michael Phelps Worth $100 Million

It is not new for the world of finance and investments to add an element of gambling to an innovative mode of investment. Take for instance weather derivatives, or power exchange which is proposed to be launched in India in the near future. Many say that India will soon have a mutual fund exchange where NAVs of all listed mutual funds will be actively traded.

But what would be really unique with a little bit of celebrity zing? A sports exchange!! Many US consultants believe that the future will see sports exchanges where players will be actively traded based on their net worth. The different sports will mimic sectors in the stock market and the star players mimic the blue chip stocks. They are also of the opinion that soon we will also see something known as the goodwill exchange where the seemingly difficult to value "goodwill" of companies will be traded.

So if this were to happen, who would I bet my money on?

Michael Phelps has so far won eight Gold medals at Beijing Olympics and has been tagged as the "most dominant Olympic athlete ever". He is already endorsing Visa and his agents say that they are getting as many as 50 calls a day from companies for endorsements. He is estimated to be worth $100 million right now. That would fetch me a high NAV if he were listed.

What Will The Olympics Do for China?

China had been preparing for this long enough and the fruits have been worth the wait. China spent 13 billion yuan on the construction of 31 competition venues, 45 training venues and other Games' facilities for the grand event. What did it get in return?

It has 10 domestic partners for the event of which 7 are Chinese companies. These are expected to bring in US$ 260 million. It is likely to cash in more than US$ 1 billion in local sponsorship alone. Tourism will grow by at least 18% during the event. According to the Beijing Olympic Economy Research Association, the direct revenue will come from sponsorship, licensing, advertisements, ticket sales and broadcasting rights.

China's GDP is expected to get an extra push of 0.8% because of earnings arising from Beijing Olympics. Above all, the Beijing Olympics are expected to generate an overall economic benefit worth some 600 billion yuan for China. That’s a WHOPPER!!!!