The 2009 PGA Tour season kicks off this week with the annual Mercedes-Benz Championship at Kapalua. But with it comes a new era in pro golf. No, it has nothing to do with Tiger Woods, who will likely be rehabbing his knee until April (Augusta) but will still be the favorite to win [...]
Vince Young is suing “three friends” for using the “VY” and “INVINCEABLE” names that his three friends got trademarked after his National Championship Rose Bowl appearance for Texas.
Rodney Vannerson, Enos Cabell and Tom Roberson were the individuals listed as “three friends” in the complaint filed in a Houston District Court on December 12th. Young got [...]
If someone, a psychic friend perhaps, had sat me down at the end of 2007 and said to me: “Toby by the end of 2008 you will have worked for the Beijing Olympic Committee and will be selling the sponsorship rights for the National Stadium (Bird’s Nest) and National Aquatic Center (Water Cube) of China” [...]
Among the many people that I finally met in person at the Princeton Sports Symposium after speaking to many times online in the past is Kris Mathis, founder of a new website called SponsorPitch. The site has been in the works for quite a while now and is branded as a free portal that helps [...]
When Mark Eshelman, Director of Business Development for PureSport first emailed me about his company, I was wondering what he wanted from a company who did not represent any swimmers. His company’s product, a protein-focused sports drink had a bunch of swimmers as endorsers, including Michael Phelps. Mark reached out to me in advance of [...]
Guest contribution by loyal reader and current Q2 intern, Michael Goldman.
When Tiger Woods returns to the golf course in 2009 there will be a new logo adorning his bag, a coveted spot that Buick has held since 2000. General Motors, the automobile company that owns Buick, recently announced the end of their 9-year endorsement deal [...]
Onyx Sports Group claims that it is not just a “player factory”. On its web page, only one golfer is listed under its Golf division. While Onyx may not be a player factory, its CEO, Andrew Moss, has been indicted for blowing a bunch of smoke at his golf client and a sponsor. The client, [...]
Another athlete is choosing to head overseas instead of staying local in North America, yet this time it is his shoe deal that he is taking overseas. The Los Angeles Clippers summer acquisition, Baron Davis, has decided to leave his previous sponsorship deal with Reebokand represent the Chinese brand Li Ning.
Davis is not the [...]
You should have seen this one coming for a while. Late 2007, CAA began representing MMA apparel brand, TapouT, which sponsors over one-hundred MMA fighters. CAA’s main tasks have been to look for licensing opportunities for TapouT in categories ranging from DVDs to truck mud flaps and everything between. Now CAA is going back to [...]
Rapidly vanishing lines of credit are not only taking their toll on inflated asset prices and the global financial markets in general, but also in the willingness of companies to not only underwrite sporting events, but also to market their brands through athletes. During financial stress, marketing budgets are historically one of the first [...]
Since changing his name legally from Chad Johnson, to Chad Javon Ocho Cinco, Reebok has asked Ocho Cinco to pay for his name change. CNBC’s Darren Rovell first reported that Reebok asked Ocho Cinco (formally Chad Johnson) to buy 100,000 jerseys for $40 per jersey, for an amount totaling $4,000,000.
Reebok hand crafts 100,000 jerseys each [...]
Sarah Talalay, who covers the Business of Sports for the South Florida based Sun Sentinel recently reported that Dunkin’ Donuts has added harness racing to its portfolio of sports promotions. Dunkin’ Donuts is already involved in many baseball and basketball promotions. Dunkin’ Brands, Inc. has embraced the sports landscape and has positioned its name in [...]
Unless you’ve lived under a rock the last few weeks you would have seen that financial markets around the world are in wide state of volatility. As the US Government tries to flesh out a bailout plan to rescue some of the world’s biggest companies, it is a good time to take a look at [...]
Just got this sent my way:
Humorous, strong brand identification, and probably paid a good endorsement fee. I love it from every angle.
I briefly mentioned Brandon Jennings yesterday and then came to find out that the soon-to-be overseas youngster just signed a deal with UnderArmour. Since right around the 2008 NBA Draft, I had heard rumors from many industry insiders about UnderArmour making a push into the basketball shoe market. Derrick Rose’s name was mentioned as the [...]
You do not have to be exceptionally strong in your sport to make some big time bucks through endorsement opportunities. Many believe that Anna Kournikova never deserved her mega deals and people are just coming around to accepting the fact that Danica Patrick may be legit (years after she first started raking in the [...]
Here in the United States, agents are used to taking 4-5% on MLB contracts, 3% on NFL contracts, 4% on NBA contracts, 5% on NHL contracts, and 10% from the teams if their clients play basketball overseas. Endorsement takes usually are around 15-20%. Some athletes complain that the percentages handed off to agents [...]
Whilst Michael Phelps was undoubtedly the King of the pool, the choice of the Queen is just as easy to clarify. Stephanie Rice won every event she competed in the games, adding 3 Golds to Australia’s tally.
Stephanie won the 200m and 400m Individual Medley and helped the Aussies win the 4 x 200m freestyle relay.
This [...]
I have a man-crush on Michael Phelps. In the past week, Michael Phelps has been the most discussed topic in my small circle of friends. One of my roommates finds it funny to tell everyone, including the Publix bagger, that I have this man-crush, at least ten people have asked me how much [...]
Remember Entourage? You know, that small time show on HBO that comes back this September after a long (and I mean long) hiatus? Really though, Entourage gives a look into one of the subjects of this sports agent world, the real life Ari Gold. Ari Emanuel founded Endeavor in 1995 after he left acclaimed agency, [...]
