Players sponsors

christos_liaskos

Professional
I dont know if this is just me noticing this recently or if it is actually a recent phenomenon, but there seem to be loads of players out there with clothing sponsors that i have never heard of. Ljubicic comes to mind, and I think I saw Lopez recently wearing something I had never seen before, or maybe I getting confused with Chela because he definitely had something new. For a while he had been wearing Topper, which again was a new brand to me, but now he has changed again to something I have never seen.

Say what you want about players like Ljubicic but I would have thought someone who has been at no3 in the world would have some 'known' brand name as his sponsor for the rest of his career, especially while he is still ranked in the top50 (now of course he is in the top15 but noone was really going to predict that).

Baghdatis is another strange situation. One of the biggest fan favourites out there and he doesn't have a sponsor (i'm not exactly certain what his situation is, my point is that I would expect a big sponsor to be after a guy like that). Hewitt with Yonex? Surely after being no1 and winning two slams he should have a better sponsor than that guaranteed for him for the rest of his career? Nalbandian didnt quite reach the heights of Hewitt but again I would have thought he could do better than Yonex.

It just seems weird that guys who have been in the top10 or 20 and are regular fixtures in the top50-100 throughout their whole careers and are pretty much house hold names to most tennis fans end up with these sponsors. Then you can have players in the futures who have some kind of arrangement with much more well known sponsors. I'm guessing some of these are situations with the sponsors trying to make a smart signing with up and coming players who they think will be big. And some of the players will actually be buying their own clothes and just happen to be wearing adidas and nike but arent actually sponsored by them.

Is it just me noticing this now but has actually always been like this? If it's new, do you guys think maybe it's because of the economic situation across the world? Big sponsors cutting back? At the same time though, I thought the current economic situation was supposed to be bad for the smaller companies, yet they seem to be the ones appearing on the tour more and more.
 

Fee

Legend
Hewitt, Dementieva and Nalbandian signed with Yonex years ago. Hewitt was dropped by Nike. I would bet that all 3 of these players are very happy with Yonex and they probably get attention and service they may not get from Nike or Adidas.
 

christos_liaskos

Professional
Hewitt, Dementieva and Nalbandian signed with Yonex years ago. Hewitt was dropped by Nike. I would bet that all 3 of these players are very happy with Yonex and they probably get attention and service they may not get from Nike or Adidas.

Ye I know they signed a while back. I know Yonex isnt exactly a 'no name' like the things Chela and Ljubicic are wearing, I still would have thought though that Hewitt would have been guaranteed a bigger sponsor than that for the rest of his career though. I suppose Yonex has almost become a household name now as a clothing brand, definitely in tennis. But I dont think that was the case when Hewitt, Nalbandian and Dementieva actually signed with them. It's those 3 that have made Yonex household, so now you can accept that they are signed with them. But at the time of first signing it really did seem strange, especially when Hewitt and Nalbandian weren't far from the at the time.
 

christos_liaskos

Professional
IIRC Feli Lopez uses Joma, which is a Spanish brand. They also sponsor Ferrero.

http://www.joma-sport.com/page_view.php?PageID=ES_Sponsor_View&FilterA=TEN&FilterB=ESP

Come on! Ferrero!?!? This is the best example yet of what I'm talking about. Former no1 and grand slam winner and sponsored by them!? That alone should guarantee him a career with a well known sponsor, forget the fact that he is upto top 15 again. Even Lopez who I hate I would have thought would have a better sponsor.
 

Fee

Legend
Ye I know they signed a while back. I know Yonex isnt exactly a 'no name' like the things Chela and Ljubicic are wearing, I still would have thought though that Hewitt would have been guaranteed a bigger sponsor than that for the rest of his career though. I suppose Yonex has almost become a household name now as a clothing brand, definitely in tennis. But I dont think that was the case when Hewitt, Nalbandian and Dementieva actually signed with them. It's those 3 that have made Yonex household, so now you can accept that they are signed with them. But at the time of first signing it really did seem strange, especially when Hewitt and Nalbandian weren't far from the at the time.

Right, but if a company comes to you and says 'hey, we know you like our racquets, we want to build our clothing line around you' that's a pretty big deal. I can see why all 3 of them signed on when they did.

As for Baghdatis, I can see why adidas let him go. He was slumping/injured for a while, and yes he's popular, but Adidas has a budget and they have to fit Murray, Verdasco, Henin and others into that budget. I'm surprised that no one else picked him up, but this might actually be a side effect of the economy. Baghdatis went out onto the market at a pretty bad time.
 

Lsmkenpo

Hall of Fame
Sponsorship is more directly related to current ranking than past.

If you fall down in rank, and your contract is up, the sponsor is not likely to offer a great contract to someone who will not get much TV time, because they are not playing on the tournament showcourts very often.
 

Fee

Legend
Come on! Ferrero!?!? This is the best example yet of what I'm talking about. Former no1 and grand slam winner and sponsored by them!? That alone should guarantee him a career with a well known sponsor, forget the fact that he is upto top 15 again. Even Lopez who I hate I would have thought would have a better sponsor.

You're thinking about this like a tennis fan and not like a businessman. Tennis in general is very much 'what have you done for me lately' and 'what can you realistically do for me now'. Ferrero was an afterthought for years as his results slumped, but JOMA is a Spanish company and again, they are using Feli and JCF to expand into a market they had not been in before. JCF can still sell in Spain. It's not just about how popular you are, it's about whether or not your popularity can move product.
 

christos_liaskos

Professional
You're thinking about this like a tennis fan and not like a businessman. Tennis in general is very much 'what have you done for me lately' and 'what can you realistically do for me now'. Ferrero was an afterthought for years as his results slumped, but JOMA is a Spanish company and again, they are using Feli and JCF to expand into a market they had not been in before. JCF can still sell in Spain. It's not just about how popular you are, it's about whether or not your popularity can move product.

I see what youre saying but you could also turn it around and say this.... I was trying to look at it from a non-tennis fan point of view. I leave in England and the average person here, who doesnt follow tennis but watches Wimbledon once a year will have heard of names like Hewitt and Ferrero just because of their achievements a few years ago. Now i'll pick a name of the top of my head...Korolev....I think he is sponsored by adidas? Now I am guessing adidas are signing him in the belief that he will do something big. Come on, dont be ridiculous! The average none tennis fan, switching the tv on for Wimbledon once a year, will switch it straight off again when they see 'Korolev'. If it's Hewitt or Ferrero though they will keep it switched on, because they dont know these guys arent at the top, they are just household names to them and they will always be interested in them.

(You could change 'Korolev' for any number of players who have surprisingly good sponsors)
 

jones101

Hall of Fame
Sponsorship is more directly related to current ranking than past.

If you fall down in rank, and your contract is up, the sponsor is not likely to offer a great contract to someone who will not get much TV time, because they are not playing on the tournament showcourts very often.

Unless you are ivanovic or Sharapova LOL
 

Cantankersore

Semi-Pro
I see what youre saying but you could also turn it around and say this.... I was trying to look at it from a non-tennis fan point of view. I leave in England and the average person here, who doesnt follow tennis but watches Wimbledon once a year will have heard of names like Hewitt and Ferrero just because of their achievements a few years ago. Now i'll pick a name of the top of my head...Korolev....I think he is sponsored by adidas? Now I am guessing adidas are signing him in the belief that he will do something big. Come on, dont be ridiculous! The average none tennis fan, switching the tv on for Wimbledon once a year, will switch it straight off again when they see 'Korolev'. If it's Hewitt or Ferrero though they will keep it switched on, because they dont know these guys arent at the top, they are just household names to them and they will always be interested in them.

(You could change 'Korolev' for any number of players who have surprisingly good sponsors)

You don't seem to understand that contracts are tiered to star level. Hewitt simply isn't going to accept the same paycheque as someone like Korolev. Roger Federer and Paul-Henri Mathieu are both sponsored by Wilson. Do you think they're paid the same amount? Remember when Davydenko was going around unsponsored for a while? That was because no company would pay him what he thought he deserved, not that they wouldn't offer him a contract.

Anyway, it isn't like the shirt you wear is going to make or break your game.
 

OKUSA

Hall of Fame
When Federer quits who will Wilson have to sponsor? The Williams' sisters will be long gone by then as well, Wilson! WILSONNNNNNNNNNN
 

Fee

Legend
I see what youre saying but you could also turn it around and say this.... I was trying to look at it from a non-tennis fan point of view. I leave in England and the average person here, who doesnt follow tennis but watches Wimbledon once a year will have heard of names like Hewitt and Ferrero just because of their achievements a few years ago. Now i'll pick a name of the top of my head...Korolev....I think he is sponsored by adidas? Now I am guessing adidas are signing him in the belief that he will do something big. Come on, dont be ridiculous! The average none tennis fan, switching the tv on for Wimbledon once a year, will switch it straight off again when they see 'Korolev'. If it's Hewitt or Ferrero though they will keep it switched on, because they dont know these guys arent at the top, they are just household names to them and they will always be interested in them.

(You could change 'Korolev' for any number of players who have surprisingly good sponsors)

As mentioned by Cantankersore (love that username, makes me smile every time), now you are getting in to different levels of sponsorship. There are 'equipment only' deals that are shoes, clothing, (racquets) only and no cash. There are deals that are equipment plus incentive (you get a little bit of cash if you do something specific in the contract like win a title or get to X round of a slam or whatever). Finally, for the big names, there are equipment plus cash deals, and those vary by ranking, popularity, etc.

Nike and Adidas play a numbers game. They want their clothes on a lot of players, and they can afford to give a lot of players a $25,000 annual shoe and clothing allowance (maybe more if you add in duffel bags and stuff), that's the easy part. It's picking which players to give cash to, on top of the equipment, that brings in the trickier decision making. That could explain why Korolev wears Adidas, since we don't know the details of his contract.
 

christos_liaskos

Professional
OK, so arguements can be made for all the above cases. But there definitely seem to be a lot more new sponsors appearing on the tour. To name some recent players that I have seen and I dont have a clue who their sponsor was, Chela, Ljubicic and Becker.

So are there more sponsors appearing on the scene or is it just me noticing this now but it has actually always been the case?
 

tuk

Rookie
bottom line is that some players can get better sponsorship deals with less known brands.....the fact that someone is wearing adidas doesn't necessarily mean that he's getting a better deal than someone wearing Joma...
 

rovex

Legend
Nike and Adidas play a numbers game. They want their clothes on a lot of players, and they can afford to give a lot of players a $25,000 annual shoe and clothing allowance (maybe more if you add in duffel bags and stuff), that's the easy part. It's picking which players to give cash to, on top of the equipment, that brings in the trickier decision making. That could explain why Korolev wears Adidas, since we don't know the details of his contract.

It's been quite obvious that Adidas don't pay the lower ranked guys nearly as much as the top 15. Just look at how many players have left Adidas since 08, Baghdatis, Soderling, Wawrinka, Youzhny, Querrey and the Byran Bros. That's a lot of players. And yet Adidas still have a firm presence in th field. Smaller firms are ready to offer more to the lower ranked players.
 

Fee

Legend
OK, so arguements can be made for all the above cases. But there definitely seem to be a lot more new sponsors appearing on the tour. To name some recent players that I have seen and I dont have a clue who their sponsor was, Chela, Ljubicic and Becker.

So are there more sponsors appearing on the scene or is it just me noticing this now but it has actually always been the case?


Ljubo's sponsor, Li-Ning, is a Chinese clothing company, and they are pretty big from what I understand, so what if they don't sell to the US. I'm sure they had money to throw around and they found players that 'fit' their needs (and maybe that means players who would accept cheap contracts). There are some new sponsors out there because some companies (outside of the US mostly) have decided to get into tennis because tennis is popular in their countries and some of their athletes are very visible for whatever reason. Think of Under Armour when they moved into tennis a few years by signing Ginepri. I think that in the last four or so years we have seen a lot of smaller, regional clothing companies get into pro tennis by finding one or two fairly visible athletes to sponsor (lik JOMA getting Feli a few years ago). Athletic DNA got Kendrick and Rajeev Ram and a bunch of juniors. Prince seems to have gotten serious with their clothing line and has added a few players. I wouldn't be surprised to see this trend continue.


It's been quite obvious that Adidas don't pay the lower ranked guys nearly as much as the top 15. Just look at how many players have left Adidas since 08, Baghdatis, Soderling, Wawrinka, Youzhny, Querrey and the Byran Bros. That's a lot of players. And yet Adidas still have a firm presence in th field. Smaller firms are ready to offer more to the lower ranked players.

I agree. I think adidas is either offering very low ball contract renewals to these guys, or not making an offer at all. But hey, they've got Murray and Verdasco right now, maybe that's all they need. ;)

K Swiss has been in tennis for years, a lot of doubles players wore their stuff. I remember talking to Rick Leach about the company in 2003 or 2004. Last year they decided to make a push for a bigger share of the market and brought Mardy, Sam and the Twins into the family. Those 3 are the center of the marketing, get a lot of attention from staff, etc. They may not be making as much as they were with adidas, but I would bet they are happy so far.
 

rovex

Legend
On the matter of Adidas, did Djokovic ditch them or was it vice versa? He's got 10 year contract with Sergio Tacchini worth $10 mil.
 

mtr1

Professional
Li Ning (Ljubicic's sponsor), are huge in China. They took over the sponsorship of the Chinese badminton team at the start of the year, so they have a lot of money to throw around, and will be generating huge sales in China. Topper, who sponsor many South American players, are big in South America. It's just a question of where these brands generate sales, clearly Li Ning and Topper haven't tried to break into the English speaking market.
 

reversef

Hall of Fame
I think that the big brands give all the money for some top players, there is no money or very little for the other ones. It's not a new phenomenon. Except the very top players and some (only) top players with a lot of charisma, players find it difficult to have good contracts.
 

OliverSimon

Hall of Fame
Topper in Argentina and Brazil are huge. Plays as the likes of: Chela, Vassalo Arguello, Acasuso, Schwank and Bellucci use the brand.
 
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Deleted member 22147

Guest
Lacoste the most beautiful brand? Plain polos with a logo, yes, very beautiful.

Not that I don't like plain polos, I prefer the more plain look over any extravagant design, but I don't see how it's the most beautiful.

Then again, you're a Roddick fan and it's not the first time you've been biased.
 

AndyArodRoddick

Professional
Lacoste the most beautiful brand? Plain polos with a logo, yes, very beautiful.

Not that I don't like plain polos, I prefer the more plain look over any extravagant design, but I don't see how it's the most beautiful.

Then again, you're a Roddick fan and it's not the first time you've been biased.

Then what ? Nike's rainbow shirts ? Lacoste shirts are the most elegant tennis shirts, and no, i'm not saying this because Roddick.
 
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Deleted member 22147

Guest
Then what ? Nike's rainbow shirts ? Lacoste shirts are the most elegant tennis shirts, and no, i'm not saying this because Roddick.

I said I didn't like extravagant designs, I severely dislike most of Nike's stuff and for me, it's getting worse.

As I also said, I like plain polos but I don't see how you can describe them as 'beautiful'.

Tell me what is so beautiful about a plain polo with a logo...
 

Markov

Semi-Pro
I think that Baghdatis actually wanted to stop wearing adidas (I think it was adidas, not sure though) and to start wearing the Cyprus national stuf.. if I remember right the reason was "to show more of his national pride" or something like that.
 

AndyArodRoddick

Professional
I said I didn't like extravagant designs, I severely dislike most of Nike's stuff and for me, it's getting worse.

As I also said, I like plain polos but I don't see how you can describe them as 'beautiful'.

Tell me what is so beautiful about a plain polo with a logo...

I do not talk about the shirts that Wawrinka is wearing atm.

I'm talking about these :
jeremy%20chardy.jpg

US-Open-tennis.jpg
 

rovex

Legend
Some Lacoste stuff is nice. The sport shirt themselves are real cheap. Surprising considering the ridiculous price tag for them.
 

christos_liaskos

Professional
OP: Do you count anything other than Nike or Adidas a "Big brand"?

Well I think they are the two biggest, I dont think anyone would really question that and obviously I'm not saying that anyone who isn't with these two companies isn't worth knowing about. Other big brands would be things like Reebok, Fila, Lacoste, Sergio Tacchini.

Anyway, I'm not debating why certain players go to certain sponsors anymore, you guys have explained that and I get it.

Now I'm asking if there are more sponsors on the scene than previously, whether a few months ago, a few years ago or whatever, and if so, why?

(Note on a couple of my previous posts: I think Becker is wearing Boris Becker clothes, which again is a new brand to me. Also noticed today that Youzhny has moved from Adidas, I think he's gone to Ljubicic's previous sponsor but cant remember who they are either)
 
Lacoste the most beautiful brand? Plain polos with a logo, yes, very beautiful.

Not that I don't like plain polos, I prefer the more plain look over any extravagant design, but I don't see how it's the most beautiful.

Then again, you're a Roddick fan and it's not the first time you've been biased.

how bout we just shut ocean drive up, can you stop being so depressive don't you have anything else to do than to $#%% about everything like a little child?
 
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