4 Passive Income Streams for Sports Coaches

4 Passive Income Streams for Sports Coaches

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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. Affiliate Marketing

If you are new to the world of affiliate marketing, it is defined as earning a commission for marketing another company’s product or services.

Chances are you know a few (or more) coaches in your network. If you are to partner with a sports-related software, one that you believe will add value to another sports coach’s organization or academy, why not get paid for making this referral?

SkillShark’s affiliate program pays you for every new customer that you refer to us. Before we discuss how simple it is to get started as an affiliate, you might be wondering who we are.

SkillShark is an athlete evaluation software enabling sports organizations, academies, and coaches to comprehensively assess their athletes, helping them make team placement decisions and identify top players. Athletes are scored directly from mobile phones or tablets, reports are instantly generated and data can be shared among key stakeholders.

SkillShark’s approach eliminates data entry and ensures accurate performance evaluations every time.


Interested in becoming an affiliate?

  1. Sign up for our affiliate program at: https://skillshark.com/affiliate-program/
  2. Start promoting. You will receive a referral link which you can use in emails, social media, or any other promotions to share with your network.
  3. Get rewarded. When your referral becomes a paid account, you will get rewards. The more rewards you get, the higher the payout!

Want to become an affiliate with SkillShark?

Sign up, start promoting, and get rewarded!

3. YouTube Videos

We touched on a creating 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!

YouTube app on soccer field

4. 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 4 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!

FAQ — Affiliate Program

The best side hustles to make passive income are:
1. Create a coaching handbook
2. Get involved in affiliate marketing
3. Create YouTube videos
4. Send player report cards

By picking a project (or two), it is recommened to spend 1-2 hours per week. Use this time to expand your reach, test new avenues, and build up your network.

Find a product or service that offers an affiliate marketing program. If you are a sports coach with a network of strong connections, you can get paid for making a referral!

Side hustles in sports are just as competitive as a sports game itself! If you spend time investing in your strategy and expanding your network, your side hustle will take off.

Take your knowledge off the court, field, or ice, and channel it into a YouTube video or eBook to generate extra income.

Danielle Stringer

Danielle is a dynamic content marketer with a unique blend of creativity and analytical expertise. She is driven by her passion for helping companies scale through lead generation, always finding distinctive ways to connect with her audience. Drawing from her extensive background in B2B SaaS, she is thrilled to apply her skills and knowledge in her current role at SkillShark Software Inc.