Salaries versus sponsorships
A line from Rod Stewart’s song goes like, “some guys have all the luck… some guys get all the breaks”. Yes, if you’re famously popular, you attract not only the opposite specie but also become a money magnet. Aside from salaries, manufacturing companies from underwear to contraceptives to transportation firms and whatever else comes in between knock on these famous people’s doors offering endorsement deals.
On foreign and local shores, we have entertainers and athletes pitching in for products sometimes we wonder if they actually are using them. Some politicians, for obvious reasons, are on the endorsement bandwagon no matter how ridiculously awkward they may look. And speaking of ridiculous, a former lawmaker now cabinet member sported a haircut that looked like a platoon of termites nibbled on the side of his head.
One local endorsement superstar that everybody knows is a boxer-politician. Sometimes, his equally famous mother does some commercials of her own. His recent conquest in Kuala Lumpur caught the negative attention of a priest who spends more time wearing out his shoes running on the asphalt and voicing his opinion on whomever and whatever he dislikes instead of doing the priestly vows he made during ordination. All the lessons in theology and the learned doctrines of the church probably had fell off from his brain with the constant jarring of his head because of too much running. And if I may ask, had he introduced any concrete plan or solution to all his rants?
Back to our topic. Superstar athletes almost always are targets for endorsements because there is name recall and mostof mankind recognize them. Aside from their obscene amounts of salaries, these deals for endorsement actually give them more money than what they get from their work. Here are some of the endorsement superstars from the world of tennis, golf and of course basketball with their estimated yearly earnings.
NOVAK DJOKOVIC – the 10th ranked Serbian tennis star had his “NoDjo” back and got himself richer by $3 million when he recently won at Wimbledon. His annual salary is less than $2 million but earns $22 million from major sponsors Seiko, Lacoste, Asics and Australian wine brand Jacob’s Creek.
RAFAEL NADAL – the world’s number one in tennis “only” gets an annual salary of about $14 million but his endorsements from Nike, KIA and Swiss luxury watch maker Richard Mille earned him $27 million.
KEVIN DURANT – the new face of the Golden State Warriors has a $25 million yearly take home pay but his bountiful endorsements from Alaska Airlines, Beats, Panini, Sprint, General Electric and Nike earns him an additional $32 million.
KEI NISHIKORI – he might not be as popular as the above-mentioned athletes but as Japan’s only top ranked tennis player (#20), he has a battalion of sponsors – Delta Airlines, Nissin Foods, Asahi, EA Games, Tag Heuer, Moet Hennessy, Nike, Uniqlo and Japan Airlines. Part of his deal with JAL had his image on the body of a Boeing 777, aptly named JET-KEI. He gets $33 million from them, a far cry from his $1.6 million annual salary.
STEPHEN CURRY – GSW’s triggerman has a $35 million salary but he gets another $42 million from sponsors Under Armour, Steiner Sports Memorabilia, Nissan Motors, Brita, Chase and Vivo among others.
TIGER WOODS – one of golf’s greatest players could be on the decline but he’s making a comeback and the money keeps coming in. He “only” has a $1.3 million salary but the Tiger continues to earn from major sponsor Nike (which never left him despite of controversies), Taylor Made, Bridgestone golf balls and Monster Energy Drink to the sweet tune of $42 million.
LEBRON JAMES – recently baptized as LABron for obviousness, the kingdom-less “king” has an annual salary of $33.5 million. Endorsements from luxury watch AudemarsPiget, Nike, Coca-Cola, KIA, Intel, Beats and McDonalds earned him another $52 million.
ROGER FEDERER – currently ranked #2 in the world, he is the highest earning tennis player with at least 10 endorsement deals. His tennis job paid him $12 million. His countrymen love him so much that Swiss companies like home appliance manufacturer Jura Elektroapparate, telecommunications firm Sunrise, Lindt, Rolex, Nationale Suisse and Credit Suisse support RF. French fine wine makers Moet, Gillette, Wilson, Nike, Mercedes Benz and of late, Uniqlo add up to the sponsors that give him a combined $65 million annual take home pay.
Surely and truly, some guys have all the luck. Some guys get all the breaks. And sadly like the “priest” who likes to run across the 7,100 islands, “some guys do nothing but complain”. Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh.
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