How much did the most famous Bosnian and Herzegovinan(BiH) athletes earn, where did they invest money, and how much did they help the community?
Sports has long since become a huge business, and the enormous amounts of contracts awarded to football and basketball players who play at the world’s highest level bring real wealth to the players. Their wealth is estimated at hundreds of millions. BiHalso has top athletes, and it was investigated how much some of the most famous earn, judging by the media captions of relevant world media and specialized portals for sports finance, as well as personal research. The available data do not specify whether they are gross or net amounts. In addition to financial figures, it was investigated where BiH athletes invest the most, but also how much they helped the social community through numerous humanitarian and personal actions.
Jusuf Nurkic
The best basketball player of BiH, Jusuf Nurkic, a member of the Phoenix Suns, leads the way in terms of money earned in his career. The specialized basketball portal Hoopshype.com writes that Jusuf Nurkic will earn $54.4 million for a three-year contract with the Phoenix Suns. Wearing the jerseys of the Denver Nuggets and Portland Trail Blazes in the NBA league, the basketball player born in Tuzla earned a whopping 72 million dollars, according to world media and portals specialized in basketball.
Thus, the popular Bosnian Beast during his rich career, which is still ongoing, earned more than 126.4 million United States (U.S.) dollars, if we do not count bonuses and earnings from sponsors and marketing services.
“Bosnian Beans” coffee business
A well-known basketball player started his own business in March 2023. He decided to partner with a Portland coffee company to create his own coffee business called “Bosnian Beans”. Jusuf Nurkic also owns real estate in the U.S., and for now, there is no official information on whether Nurkic has residential or commercial buildings in BiH and Croatia.
“Jusuf Nurkic” Foundation
Three years ago the BiH NBA star founded his own foundation “Jusuf Nurkic“, which aims to improve the lives of young people in BiH. Born in Tuzla, he visited children in Rwanda in the previous period and delighted more than a thousand children in two schools. Nurkic supported a huge number of humanitarian actions even before the establishment of the foundation. He donated money to the organization Pomozi.ba several times, but also carried out dozens of individual philanthropic missions, far from the eyes of the media. In the Tuzla settlement of Stupine, Nurkic financed the construction of a basketball court in May of this year, which he donated to the youth and children of Tuzla.
Edin Dzeko
There is no information on Edin Dzeko‘s earnings before his transfer to Wolfsburg on the internet, i.e. for the period when he played for Zeljeznicar, then Teplice, and on loan for the Czech team Usti nad Labem.
This football player from Sarajevo signed his first serious contract in Wolfsburg. The German Bild wrote earlier that Dzeko earned approximately 5 million euros a year. If it is to be concluded according to those sources, it means that in four years in Germany, he collected at least 20 million euros, without bonuses and annual raises.
According to the Italian Tuttomercat, Dzeko earned 4.2 million euros per season in the first two years at Manchester City, and the specialized football finance portal Capology states that Dzeko earned 14.2 million euros in the last two seasons at City. So, it is at least 22.6 million euros, which BiH football player got by his great plays on the island.
Capology further writes that Dzeko collected approximately 7 million euros in his first season playing for Roma. The following year, he received almost one million more, and the salary grew the following year to 8.2 million euros and then reached 8.3 million euros. In the penultimate year in Rome, Dzeko had an annual salary of 9.2 million euros, and the most recent one was 13.8 million euros. Therefore, at least 47.5 million euros was paid to Dzeko from the salaries in the jerseyof the Roman club.
According to information available on websites specialized in football finance, a footballer from Sarajevo earned at least 18.4 million euros (9.2 million euros per season) during his two-year tenure as an Inter striker.
The 37-year-old is now a member of the Turkish Fenerbahce, which he joined from Inter through a free transfer, as his contract with the giant from Milan expired. Turkish media announced that the popular Diamond will get 8.4 million euros (4.2 million euros per season) for two years of the contract.
That is a figure of at least 116.9 million euros of Edin Dzeko‘s earnings in his career, just from club salaries from 2007 to 2023.
Edin Dzeko‘s business in BiH and Croatia
Edin Dzeko is currently investing in BiH and Croatia. Restaurant Ezza in Dubrovnik is the property of the striker of Fenerbahce, and soon the construction of the building behind Sarajevo City Center will begin, which Dzeko is building in co-ownership with businessman Amer Bukvic and is making new investments.
It was found out that Dzeko owns a lot of real estate in Sarajevo and Dubrovnik, and that number totals between 50 and 60 facilities.
The philanthropic side of “Diamond”
The most popular football player of BiH started a special account “Sports Fund” to collect money for treatment, medicines, and medical aids for seriously ill and socially vulnerable people. Dzeko decided on this move, in cooperation with the humanitarian organization Pomozi.ba. The football player founded the fund, donating 20,000 BAM, and soon the famous BiH basketball player Mirza Teletovic joined him with a 10,000 BAM donation. The fund is financed through auctions of the jerseys of Edin Dzeko and other athletes, then through frequent financing of Dzeko‘s personal money and many other popular BH athletes. One of the best football players of BiH of all time has donated between 120 and 150 thousand euros through his humanitarian work, Forbes reports.