Fortunately, they continue to earn royalties. You can certainly quibble about whether latest-hit-centric music culture makes that big enough to offset the upfront tax hit, and even whether they get a reasonable share of that residual revenue, but it's something.
This is a good point, as for atheletes this option is less open to them. And in something like the NFL the career is much shorted that MLB. Only a very few will make concession revenues or have game royalties. Maybe some will become coaches or TV personalities, but that is likely a small number.
