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By Chris Broadfoot, founder of SportsFX
You may notice a new name. This newsletter is now The Athlete Newsletter.
Same author, same list, wider scope.
For the past year I've written about currency for athletes moving between countries: getting paid in one currency, spending in another, and not losing money in between. That isn't going anywhere, and currency stays in every edition.
But the questions I get from players go well past exchange rates. How do I read this contract? Who should I trust with my money? What happens to my visa, my tax and my family if I move clubs? What do I do when the playing stops?
I played professionally, and I work with athletes on this every week. The good information exists, but it's spread across agents, lawyers, accountants and advisers, and most players only find it after they've made the mistake.
So each week you'll get one main story on the money and career side of pro sport, a piece from a specialist who works with athletes, and one thing I think is worth your time.
If there's a topic you want covered, just reply. I read every email.
Mathew Stubbs. A$80,000 for one season. And the half he never budgeted for.
Mathew Stubbs was playing off plus one on the Gold Coast when he got into long drive. In September 2022 he made his debut at the World Championships in Mesquite, Nevada, and hit a 395-yard drive in competition. By 2023 he was on the World Long Drive Tour, signed by Adidas, and flying between the US, Europe and Asia to compete.
When he came on the podcast in his rookie season, he walked me through the money.
One season on tour cost him around A$80,000. Prize money is paid in US dollars. At the time, a tour event paid US$10,000 to the winner and the two majors paid US$30,000, and only the top 16 of a 64-player field got paid at all. Sponsors and a social media agency he had built years earlier covered the gap, so he could train 40 to 50 hours a week.
Then he told me the part most athletes never say out loud. His budget blew out by about half, and a big part of the reason was that he had underestimated what everything cost once it was converted into US dollars. He could not even open a US bank account without a Social Security number.
That is the corridor Mathew lives in, and it runs both ways. His costs are in US dollars. His savings are in Australian dollars. Any prize money lands in US dollars and has to come home.
This year shows why that matters. On 2 January, one US dollar bought A$1.4932. Today it buys about A$1.42, even after this month's bounce.
Here is what that looks like in real numbers.
Say an Australian athlete has US$50,000 of season costs in America: flights, hotels, entry fees, food. At the 2 January rate that was A$74,660. At 1.42 it is A$71,000. The same season is A$3,660 cheaper, only because of the date.
Now flip it. Say a player is paid US$500,000 and sends it home to Australia. At the 2 January rate that was A$746,600. At 1.42 it is A$710,000. That is A$36,600 less for the same contract, the same games and the same work.
Neither of them chose any of that. The rate chose for them. And this week adds more: the RBA raised the cash rate to 4.60% on Tuesday, and the Australian monthly CPI lands today.
The principle I would take from Mathew's story is simple. Match your currencies first, then time the rest.
Hold US dollars for US dollar costs, so you are not converting money one way and then back again. Convert what is left over in stages, or fix the rate on part of it when the level works for your budget, instead of betting everything on one day. And do not let the bank convert it for you automatically. A 3 to 5% spread on US$50,000 is US$1,500 to US$2,500, or about A$2,130 to A$3,550 at 1.42. That is close to what this year's whole move in the rate did to the same US$50,000.
You cannot control where the Australian dollar goes next week. You can control how much of your income is exposed to it, and what you pay to convert it.
If your pay and your life run in different currencies, this is what I work on every day at SportsFX. Reply and I will run your numbers.
THIS WEEK ON THE CHART
Over the last 12 months, USD/AUD hit a high of 1.5568 on 21 November 2025. It then fell 11.7% to 1.3745 on 6 May 2026. Last week I wrote about this roughly 12% swing over 12 months.
The RBA raised the cash rate 0.25 percentage points, from 4.35% to 4.60%, in a unanimous decision that matched the 4.60% forecast, and the statement said upside inflation risks from August are materialising. AUD/USD on TradingView (Tbilisi time) was about 0.70152 in the morning and 0.70077 at 08:29, then 0.70291 at the high after the statement, a session low of 0.69780 between 09:45 and 10:00 (about 0.53% below the morning level), and 0.69862 at about 13:15. The drop came when Governor Bullock's press conference started at 09:30, not on the statement. Reuters (Wayne Cole) said the rise underwhelmed a market already set on further rises, and that Bullock said the board had considered a hold as well as the 0.25 point rise and would not give forward guidance, and Reuters says markets then cut the chance of a November rise to 32% from 44%.
In this week's video I walk through the USD/AUD chart and what a fall of about 12% means if you earn US dollars and send them home to Australia. I also explain how fixing your exchange rate for up to 12 months can give you certainty.
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FROM THE SPECIALISTS
12.5% of a player's salary in Australia goes into superannuation, and it is often left out of the numbers when imported players sign. Tim Pullman, a chartered accountant at Archer Sports Advisory in Adelaide, explained what happens when an A-League, NBL or NRL import goes home. The money is taxed at 15% going in, then 35% on the balance when you claim it through a departing Australia superannuation payment. Keep your Australian bank account open, because some funds pay by Australian dollar cheque and a bank at home may refuse it. A smooth claim takes 8 to 12 weeks. "The longest one that I saw was three years."
AROUND THE GAME
12 years in the A-League, with Adelaide United, Sydney FC and Brisbane Roar, ended for Ben Warland when Brisbane did not offer him a new contract after the 2025-26 season. He made it a mission to have work lined up as soon as his contract finished, so he hit the phones and caught up for a coffee with a mortgage broker who was looking to bring someone into the team. He is now a Credit Analyst at Vision Finance Collective in Brisbane, and as he told the PFA, "He took a big punt on me." If your contract is ending, I'd start the calls early and use what your players' association offers: Warland used PFA Education Grants to help him get his Cert 4 in Mortgage Broking and Finance Broking.
THIS WEEK WE RECOMMEND
This week I came across "Is Women's Tennis Going Bankrupt?" from Business of Sport. The hosts' views on equal pay are opinion, but the numbers hold up: about $15m in cash at year-end against a $23m loss, and CVC's $30m a year ends in 2027. If you play mostly outside the Slams, I'd budget as if tour prize money could shrink.
Chris Broadfoot
Founder, SportsFX
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