3 Passive Income Streams for Sports Coaches

A coaching career offers many benefits, including fostering leadership, communication, and problem-solving skills, but coaches are often interested in side hustles for passive income. Sports side hustles, more specifically, where coaches can tap into their database of expertise and network of connections to generate extra income.

34% of Americans have a side hustle; this shows that 1 in 3 Americans have found creative outlets to diversify their income while doing something they enjoy on the side.

Let’s tap into some unique and time-efficient passive income streams for sports coaches.

1. Coaching Handbook

Do you have a library of knowledge in your sport that you want to share with other coaches? If you have a passion for creative writing, combine that with your love of sports to create a coaching handbook.

You might be asking, “How will I generate awareness and get sales off my handbook?” Reach out to your network of coaches. Do they have an interest in buying your handbook or know of any other coaches in need of some additional expertise?

There is no need to set up an e-commerce website to host your coaching handbook. Create and design a handbook using a free tool like Canva, then email your handbook to other coaches in exchange for a transfer of funds.

Tips for creating a coaching handbook:

• Offer value-added content in the form of checklists or templates. If you were developing a coaching handbook titled, “Best Practices for Softball Coaches,” you could include a series of checklists for hitting, pitching, fielding, and base running drills that coaches can implement during their weekly practices.
• Include first-party expertise in the form of personal narratives or numerical data that you have acquired during your coaching career. This will make your content more credible and authoritative.

2. YouTube Videos

We touched on creating a coaching handbook, which is ideal for coaches who want to combine their two passions: sports and creative writing. However, if video is your preferred channel of communication, create knowledge-based videos and post them on YouTube.

You could create a step-by-step instructional video for how to coach a specific drill at practice, or you could develop a list-based explainer video. I.e., “7 best basketball drills to evaluate at your next tryout.” There are numerous possibilities with YouTube videos. Take advantage of this opportunity to be creative and have fun!

Remember: Add several mid-roll ads to your YouTube video. If your video is longer than 10 minutes, serve a mid-roll ad every three minutes. This is how you will generate income on your YouTube videos; any creator on YouTube can take advantage of ads!

3. Player Report Cards

One of your main responsibilities as a coach is providing athlete feedback. Your players want to know what areas they are excelling at and what skills they need to further work on. Athlete feedback is typically provided through one-on-one sessions, emails, or player report cards (hint: these are very useful.

What is a player report card?

Athletes are evaluated across a range of skills and given:

• A single score (i.e., a numerical ranking from 1–5).
• An objective score (i.e., a time-based ranking).
• A comment-only score through a sports evaluation app.

Once the scores are inputted, a player report card is instantly generated. Players can see their individual scores and how they compare to the team’s average performance in each skill.

How can player report cards generate revenue?

It is not just athletes who want detailed feedback, but also their parents. If you plan to conduct evaluations throughout the year, consider using an app that generates player report cards. And for a small fee, let parents view them via email. As many sports organizations and academies aren’t providing this level of detailed feedback yet, why not capitalize on this opportunity?

Snapshot of what a player report card looks like

Wrapping Up

These 3 passive income streams for sports coaches are unique, simple, and practical. Coaches won’t have to invest a lot of time in these opportunities, rather they will rely on their knowledge of the sport and their connections in the industry in order to excel!