Collegiate Draft Protection
Although the Coronavirus outbreak has placed professional and collegiate sports on an indefinite hiatus in this country and the rest of the world, we can still posture in anticipation of our favorite athletes dazzling us once again on pitch, field and court. In the meantime, the upcoming NFL draft may tickle your sporting life fancy, or at the very least give you a much needed break from dreary network news and Netflix movies.
On Thursday, April 23rd, the National Football League will be televising the beginning of the 2020 NFL draft where 32 professional football teams will take turns picking prospective hopefuls from the ranks of draft-eligible college athletes. This year’s draft promises to be additionally intriguing in that it will be held in a completely “virtual” format so as to comply with COVID-19 mandates and social distancing. All football clubs will conduct their draft operations remotely by phone and electronically so as not to endanger NFL and football club personnel as well as the participating players.
The players will surely have a lot on their minds. Draft day could be one of the most pivotal days of their lives – a day they have been working towards for years, and a day that could dictate their future financial aptitude and where they will call home for years to come. Stressful to say the least, which is why appropriate insurance safeguards are instrumental at this stage of career.
College athletes are not afforded an income in the traditional sense. Many are given scholarships and other perks, but they regularly put their bodies at excessive risk of injury similarly to their professional counterparts. And although traditional disability insurance isn’t available in collegiate level athletics, financial protection in the form of college draft insurance is available to many players.
Draft protection insurance is disability coverage that a student athlete with professional potential may purchase (or his/her school may purchase) to protect against the loss of future earnings in the professional ranks due to career-ending permanent total disablement that occurs prior to signing a professional sports contract. The insurance is available for those playing basketball, football and baseball. Prospective draftees and marquee players can purchase the coverage up to three years prior to anticipated draft dates, allowing for disability protection throughout most of their collegiate career. Available benefit levels are determined by sports insurance experts based upon a player’s projected draft position and positional value of comparative players in previous drafts.
The big buzz around draft insurance is the supplemental “loss of value” coverage that is available as a rider to a basic draft protection policy. “Loss of value” financially indemnifies the possible drop in draft stock of a player due to a non-career-ending injury prior to the draft. A simple example is a player slated to be picked in the first round of the NFL draft. In his senior year, he suffers a season-ending knee injury. On the day of the draft, he isn’t picked-up by a team until the third round. His draft stock fell substantially, potentially losing him millions of dollars a year that would have been coming his way should he have remained healthy and signed a contract with a team during the projected first round. “Loss of value” is much sought after in the sports insurance market, but it isn’t available to everyone. Eligibility is limited to top draft prospects.
The sports insurance market is as competitive as the athletes it seeks to protect. Now is the time to begin seeking prospective clients for next year’s NFL draft or potential draftees in other sports. For more information and product assistance, please contact Petersen International’s sports department at (800)345-8816.