Pros and Endorsements- How Much?

[DariusRaiden]

I was reading an article in Tennis Magazine about how much the top players earn in endoresments. I know that Roddick makes upwards of 7 million per year from his various endorsements, and Agassi is in the double digits, something like 23 million from Nike, Genworth, Aramis and Head. Federer, apparently unmarketable, makes (only) 5 million from Nike, Wilson, and a few others. But I'm curious about lesser-known players.

How much does a guy like Feliciano Lopez or Mario Ancic make per year in endorsement money? Also, do top doubles teams make substantial money? Does anyone have any clue about how much the Brian brothers make per year?

For the record, I'm an econ major, and so money is, well, interesting to me. I mean, let's say Mario Ancic switches to Adidas......what kind of impact(monetarily) does that really have on a company? Thanks in advance for your input!

 

[timmyboy]

more than enough

 

[Happy_Man]

i think you increased his love for money even more

 

[AndrewD]

If you're interested in the marketing side of it then Id suggest contacting whatever the key marketing institute is in the States or looking to see if Forbes has a break-down of a player's total income.

Otherwise Id say some things are more significant. Nationality is obviously important. The Bryan Brothers could make more than, say, the Woodies did purely through being American. Their lesser record isnt as important as their marketability in the largest market -America. Same holds true for singles players. There have been exceptions such as Borg, Graf and Becker but in general a European player will earn less through endorsements than their American counterpart.

The UK is a different matter. Andy Murray is looking to sign a number of endorsements in the coming months so I'd be keeping an eye on him and factor in that any contract he signs in pounds is worth almost double that in US dollars. Murray will be unusual because he'll have the field pretty much to himself. Seems little likelihood the UK will unearth another player of his calibre in the near future so, if you want to gain coverage through tennis sponsorship, Murray is your only option. Other countries can spread the wealth a bit, the UK can't and, unlike a lot of other nations, they don't have any past 'greats' (not counting Henman) to fall back on (eg. if you dont want to sponsor Hewitt in Australia you can still get excellent coverage sponsoring Rafter or even one of the older Aussies).

I realise you're American but Murray would make a very interesting case study.

 

[DariusRaiden]

Interesting response. I'm pretty sure that in that Tennis Magazine snipit, Henman actually made more in endoresements than Federer. Apparently Henman is a celebrity figure in Great Britain. I'm sure Federer is popular in Switzerland, but that's a pretty small market.

What about people like Melzer in Austria or Haas in Germany. Both basically have fairly large countries with no other notable current players. I wonder if they do well simply because they have the market to themselves?