The life of a professional athlete brings a decent pay cheque - couple that with discipline, spotting an opportunity and working with a good team, a crossover into the business world makes sense.
With a relatively short career at the top, sports stars are often encouraged to make their wealth go further through investments and business interests.
Find out how these sports stars are making money on the sidelines.
Gary Neville
A serial investor and property developer, the ex footballer and pundit is set to make a big impression on the Manchester skyline with his latest project.
Gary owns the Relentless Group, which is currently working on St Michael's, a £200m development project in Manchester city centre.
It has signed a joint venture New York-based KKR to deliver the development which will include a hotel, flats and offices.
The joint venture, KKR’s first real estate investment in Manchester, will include a 200,000 sq ft sustainable building.
Gary also co-owns a hospitality company, GG Hospitality, which has a portfolio of hotels and restaurants including Hotel Football and The Stock Exchange Hotel.
He has also joined the likes of Vincent Kompany and Anthony Watson in investing in Rezzil, a Manchester-based virtual reality elite sports training start-up which has launched a new platform.
Rezzil's Player 22 has been designed and tested by UEFA pro-licenses coaches.
Other investors include Thierry Henry, Michail Antonio and Tyrone Mings.
Gary is also a co-owner of Salford City football club
The club was taken over in 2014 by former Manchester United stars Gary Neville, Ryan Giggs, Phil Neville, Nicky Butt with David Beckham and Singaporean businessman Peter Lim joining later.
Each of the members of the so-called 'Class of '92' own 10% with Mr Lim owning the rest.
Anthony Joshua
Heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua is among the investors of fast growing CBD oil brand Love Hemp.
Love Hemp has opened a new office in Manchester as it gears up for global expansion, creating 30 jobs.
Launched , by friends Tony Calamita and Tom Rowland, in 2015, Love Hemp sells over 40 products including oils, edibles, sprays, cosmetics and topicals aimed at the sports market.
Anthony is known to be savvy with his cash. Together with Freddie Cunningham, Anthony set up AJ Boxing and Commercial in 2015 to look after his sponsorship contracts, merchandise business and athlete management firm.
His commercial interests also include a share in BXR Gyms and Manchester-based percussion muscle therapy and recovery brand Pulseroll.
Its products will be used by club physios at Burnley FC next season under a new contract.
Robbie Fowler
The Liverpool legend retired from football in 2012, after building up a property portfolio so large Man City fans were known to chant “We all live in a Robbie Fowler house” [to the tune of Yellow Submarine] at him while he played for them.
He started the Robbie Fowler Property Academy teaching others how to invest after making millions as a landlord of relatively modest family terraced homes across the North West.
He credits manager Graeme Souness with starting him off on the right path after he introduced him to a financial adviser saying "he will look after you for the rest of your life.” That was by far the smartest thing I did, Fowler told The Mirror
His most recent investments include a partnership with housing and regeneration group Torus to secure the future of Liverpool's iconic training facilities building - with plans for a new college and sports hub.
Melwood is to be opened up to the public for the first time after Jamie Carragher and Robbie Fowler's academy teamed up with the housing provider and Beth Tweddle Gymnastics and coaching firm 'Swim!'.
Torus had already announced plans to build almost 200 homes on the site of the club's former training ground after the Reds left the facility in November for a new, purpose-built site in Kirkby.
The Fowler-Carragher Academy will take on operational responsibility for the existing building, which will host a college aimed at unlocking a range of brand-new training and educational opportunities for young people across the Liverpool City Region.
In 2020, he announced plans for a residential scheme to be built between Liverpool city centre and Anfield - and says the project is the first of many he hopes to lead in the city.
Andy Murray
The tennis star has served up an investment portfolio worth more than £11million according to a study of the business activities of 30 A-listers.
According to the Celebrity Investments Index compiled by Money.co.uk, in May 2021, Sir Andy has a net worth of $100 million (£72m), and has helped invest about $15.7m.
In 2018, he invested in mortgage lender Landbay, a tech start-up that also has the backing of online estate agent Zoopla – and he also intends to back Investly, a fintech start-up that offers invoicing services for small businesses.
Also highlighted was his investment in more than 30 UK businesses via Seedrs. Money.co.uk said some of his investments in this regard include Beeline, a smart navigation device and mobile app for bikes; Dog Tracker Nano, a live tracking device with geofencing and alerts to keep your dog safe; and Blow Ltd, a London-focused “beauty on demand” service.
The tennis champion is also an investor in sportswear brand Castore, which has signed a long-term deal to supply England Cricket's kit.
It recently announced a partnership with the 24 Hours of Le Mans and has a deal with F1 team McLaren and provides kits for Premier League clubs Newcastle and Wolverhampton Wanderers.
John Souttar
The footballer is best known as a new recruit with Scottish Premiership club Rangers and the national team.
It was following a setback after his second achilles tear in August 2020 that John began to consider a life away from football. This is where the idea for Maison Dieu Coffee Roasters took hold.
The coffee roaster and cafe, established with partner Kayley and former teammate Euan Spark, opened in Brechin, in November 2021. John has thrown himself into every aspect of the business, from roasting beans to becoming a proficient barista.
Dave Ryding
Dave Ryding made history in January 2022 when he became Great Britain's first-ever alpine ski World Cup champion, winning the slalom gold at Kitzbuhel in Austria.
The Chorley-born skier also has other ambitions, running a cafe with his fiancée Mandy Dirkzwager, in the quiet West Lancashire village of Tarleton.
The Boskins cafe, bar and bistro was born in 2019 and despite the challenges of the pandemic, the venue stayed open and is hugely popular with cyclists and often sees ski fans visiting for a chance to meet Dave.
In fact, a coachload of Austrian tourists once rolled up to the cafe to take pictures and enjoy a coffee, writes Lancs Live .
Stuart Broad
The England cricketer opened the The Tap and Run in 2018 after a £350,000 renovation project with his business partner, former cricketer Harry Gurney.
The pub, was destroyed by a devastating fire on June 11, 2022 and it will be a long road before it can re-open again.
It is the second pub in the pair's Cat and Wickets Pub Company, following The Three Crowns.
During the pandemic, the pub was converted into a village shop serving pre-prepared meals for stay-at-home customers.
In normal times, The Tap and Run, which was reviewed by LeicestershireLive in August 2021 had a good reputation as a dining pub.
Gavin Henson
The former rugby star started his new venture as landlord of The Fox, St Brides Major after leaving the Dragons in 2019.
Henson attended a one-day training course on becoming a pub licensee before the end of his professional Welsh rugby career was effectively announced.
The beautiful stone pub was completely renovated before re-opening under the steerage of the rugby star who also featured on Strictly Come Dancing and The Batchelor, and his wife Katie.
The pub is close to where Henson grew up as a child, while his father Alan, a former prop who captained Maesteg, is a self-employed roofer in the area.
In March 2020- before lockdown one, he told WalesOnline how he worked for weeks and months on end as a labourer as the site was completely gutted and transformed. He spoke of the happiness he and his wife had found pulling pints in the bustling pub.
James Wren and Jack Dyer
The former Burton Albion FC players are the founders of Freetrain , a fitness clothing company that solves the problem of what to do with your mobile phone while playing sport.
But what launched as just a single-product company with the Freetrain vest has now grown to a whole range of clothing.
The pair, who first met in 2011, have spent the past two years working on the products and have now brought them to the UK market.
Called 'The Emergence' as a nod to the company's "emergence as a brand", according to Mr Wren, it features 22 different items for men and women including leggings, sports bras, gilets, T-shirts and shorts.
Gareth Bale
The latest venture for footballer Gareth Bale opened in March after a delay thanks to the pandemic.
Par 59, a new bar, restaurant and mini-golf venue, in Cardiff has been developed by the team behind city centre's permanent, indoor street food market The Depot.
The fit out of the premises was financed by a part share of a £2.35m building transformation fund from the Welsh Government’s Transforming Towns loans scheme.
It aims to tap into a growing market of combining pubs with social sports that has seen a rapid growth in recent years.
Par 59 marks a second step into the hospitality sector for the footballer, following on from his partnership with Brains Brewery and the opening of Elevens Bar & Grill in Cardiff in 2017.
He's also launched his own beer range too. Bale Ale was initially brewed by SA Brain & Co to celebrate the launch of Elevens Bar & Grill.
Now, in a brewing deal with Llantrisant-based Glamorgan Brewing Co, Gareth Ale is being produced alongside Bale Lager and new product Bale Pale.
Gareth Anscombe and Alex Cuthbert
Welsh rugby internationals Gareth Anscombe and Alex Cuthbert are part owners of fitness app venture, Fitap.
Growth plans for the business have been boosted after raising more than £200,000 in a crowdfunding campaign.
Alongside business partner and entrepreneur Dean Jones, their business AGD Enterprises, has developed the search platform that connects gym owners, personal trainers, sports clubs and health and fitness providers with consumers at the touch of a button.
The business had a soft launch prior to the pandemic, but is now looking to accelerate its growth on its funding boost.
Michael Owen
Established by the retired footballer and pundit in 2006, Manor House Stables is an elite racehorse training stables based in Malpas, Cheshire.
The day-to-day management of the stables is overseen by Classic-winning Trainer, Hugo Palmer, who moved to Manor House Stables in the spring.
It trains and stables 145 horses.
Harry Kane
England captain Harry Kane took part in a £1.4m investment into Chester-based health food brand Bio&Me in March.
Bio&Me trebled its sales to £3m in 2021 and has said it is on track to treble again in 2022.
The health food brand secured a major distribution deal with Tesco in June with its products available in almost 800 stores across the UK. It is already stocked in over 1,400 stores nationwide in Sainsbury’s, the Co-Op, Waitrose, via Ocado.
