Chapter 254 Troika
There is no doubt that rugby is the well-deserved number one game in the United States. It is far ahead in commercial value and market share, and has almost no competitors.
Let alone the Super Bowl, which has easily exceeded 100 million ratings, let’s just talk about the draft every year——
The live program on the first day of the draft easily surpassed the ratings of the NBA Finals and MLB World Series.
According to statistics, in 2016, among the top 50 TV programs in the United States, football occupied a total of 47 positions.
No one can challenge the dominance!
However, compared to the popularity and influence of rugby, the income of players is really shabby and shameful.
The top superstar players in the NFL only have an annual salary of 30 million US dollars; in the NBA, they are everywhere, and they can only be regarded as average.
Currently, the maximum value of Nike's endorsement contract for sponsoring football players is only US$2.5 million per year. Many of the league's top players, including Manning, have contracts of similar levels.
This is the top level. In front of LeBron James' billion-dollar contract, it is simply the gap between a baby and a giant.
The reason?
Why is rugby the most expensive sport in North America, with teams, leagues, and broadcast rights all far ahead in terms of revenue and value, yet player income is so sluggish?
From a theoretical point of view, this is unscientific and even against the rules. NBA and NFL players have repeatedly publicly discussed such differences.
But from a market perspective, it is perfectly normal.
The reason is actually very simple:
There are too many players.
On the basketball court, there are only five people, and the maximum number of players on a team is fifteen; but in the football team, each team has fifty-three players, and there are at least twenty-five starting players alone. More than 40 rotation players can appear in a game.
It is conceivable that in a football game, fifty-three people divide the commercial space, which is naturally not comparable to the fifteen people in a basketball game.
When a brand tries to use professional player endorsements to connect with consumers, baseball and football have too many players, which drives down their contract numbers; basketball players and individual players, especially in tennis and golf, can always Get a higher price.
In addition, the price gap between the NFL and NBA sponsorship endorsements is really shocking. Basketball players may spend hundreds of millions, but football players cannot even get tens of millions of contracts. Part of the reason is due to the characteristics of the sneaker consumer market. caused.
Rugby shoes, like football shoes, are both spiked shoes. They are very professional and have a specific purpose. This makes it difficult for the general audience to wear them in daily life. In contrast, basketball shoes are approachable and people can freely choose basketball as their daily shoes. This also leads to the essential difference in market base.
Here, the "Air-Jordan" series collaborated by Michael Jordan and Nike plays an important role, truly making basketball shoes a fashion and penetrating into every aspect of daily life.
Thanks to this, Jordan can now receive at least US$100 million in dividends from Nike every year; and this is just Jordan's dividends. You can imagine how terrible Nike's profits are.
As a result, the numbers of sponsorship and endorsement contracts vary greatly.
In fact, not only sponsorship and endorsements, the salary level of NFL players is also far inferior to that of the NBA. In addition to the huge player base, there is also the issue of salary cap——
The NBA has a soft salary cap with a lot of exceptions; the NFL has a hard salary cap with no room for accommodation.
But that's another story.
Attention returns to brand sponsorship.
The official sponsor of the NFL is Nike. Each team's jerseys and equipment are Nike, but Nike does not fully cover buyouts, players' gloves, sneakers, quick-drying clothes inside the jerseys and other accessories, as well as accessories outside the game. Personal training clothes, these are categories where you can choose your sponsor freely.
Currently, another major official sponsor of the NFL is Under Armour. This brand founded by professional football players has cooperated with the league since 1998 and is responsible for all apparel sponsorships outside of non-competition sports.
Off the field, Adidas, Puma and other brands are also continuing to compete fiercely. Although they have not been able to officially cooperate with the NFL, they continue to seek cooperation with players and hope to get a piece of the No. 1 sport in North America.
Then, the focus fell entirely on Levi.
As the first Asian player in the history of the NFL to be selected in the first round, the topics and discussions focused on Levi have never stopped; but in the blink of an eye, two weeks have passed in the regular season, and Levi still does not have a sponsorship contract. Obviously, this is not normal.
The truth is, it's not that there's no brand sponsorship, it's that Donald is biding his time.
Since Levi announced his participation in the draft, brands have begun to contact Donald one after another, but they lack sincerity and are just trying to gain popularity.
Firstly, Levi is a rookie and his career is too short. If he enters the league but becomes a substitute or rotation player, brand sponsorship will have no effect——
This is the case for Wang Kai, the first Chinese player to enter the league in 2010. As a forward player, Wang Kai has always appeared as a rotation player and his exposure is really limited.
Secondly, Levi is a running back, and his commercial value is inherently inferior to that of quarterbacks, wide receivers, linebackers, etc., and the risk of injury cannot be underestimated.
Even if Levi successfully becomes the starter, what if he gets injured after a few games? Or is it like the pre-season game, with one highlight followed by silence?
For various reasons, brand sponsorships are not sincere enough.
Donald looked down on them all.
Although the amount of NFL sponsorship contracts is far less than that of the NBA, the figures of US$50,000 and US$100,000 per year are more like speculation. After all, such sponsorship contracts seemed shabby even in the NBA in the 1980s.
Donald has been waiting and staying patient. He believes in Levi's ability and his value. This is why Donald was willing to visit the thatched cottage in the first place.
Sure enough, Donald was waiting.
In the opening game of the season, Levi caused an uproar in the league with his wonderful performance. At that time, some brands could not bear it and contacted Donald immediately; but Donald was still not in a hurry. He was waiting for other competitors to appear.
After the second game, Donald's office phone was busy.
Nike. adidas. Under Armor.
All the troika of the NFL field are present, no one is missing.
Despite this, Donald still seemed very calm and everything was under control——
Donald knew that the biggest difference between Levi and other rugby players was his Chinese identity.
Especially when Goodell, the league president, is single-mindedly trying to open up the Asian market, Levi has the privilege of being exposed by the league's official endorsement.
This also means that Levi's net worth is only high but not low.
Donald needs to seize the opportunity:
Building momentum is the first step.
At this time, LeBron just came to the door, and Donald was naturally not polite. Even if LeBron asked for something, it didn't matter, because Donald also had his own plans.
Donald asked kindly after dropping a big bomb.
"What about yourself? What are your personal preferences?"
"If you personally like a particular brand, we can focus a little more on it when negotiating."
(End of chapter)