Star Power and Endorsements

[shine]

Sorry to get your knickers in a knot. What I meant when I read in one of the athelte reviews was that though Nathan had great sponsorships he did not rate strongly on a recognizaeable personality and skating was also not a top glamour marketing sport. But Nike and the likes want a wide audience thankfully including sports and cultures. He is going to do way better than Kaetlyn who has an individual oly medal and oly team gold.

I'm not sure what an athlete review is and why its or its author's judgement/opinion of skaters' personality is any more relevant than regular fans' perception?

 

[Yoa]

8.5 mil? Wow. I didn't follow the news after 3.5 million. And Samantha Thavasa is the final bidder? Are they going to launch Yuzuru's collections anytime? Just hoping from my selfish heart.

There was a bid once with over 31 million yen but the auction got restarted. It's not exactly Yuzuru's collection but they have Winnie the Pooh one

 

[Spinning]

There was a bid once with over 31 million yen but the auction got restarted. It's not exactly Yuzuru's collection but they have Winnie the Pooh one

Nah...I find Winnie a bit creepy somehow and have no idea why....lol. I have their Hello Kitty Handbag though.

Anyway, Yuzuru is one of a few A-lister who actually can capture the value added to their name in Japan right now. 31 million didn't sound far-fetched to me.

 

[cruzceleste]

Rippon.

Who are Rippon sponsors?

 

[Barb]

I'd say the Shibs have the most media savvy beyond just capitalizing on their fame at the moment -- which is largely determined by forces beyond the athlete's own control and changes lightning fast. I see them as the most capable of sustaining success. So even if someone like Adam, with his personality, could be entertaining offers about doing his own reality show or something along those lines (kinda like Ryan Lochte), I could see the Shibs making really good contacts in Hollywood that could lead to them developing/producing their own TV shows and ultimately making it their career. Turning their vlogs into their own reality show would be a good place to start and I'd definitely watch that.

Agree, they could to do many things with their vlog, and Shibs social media helped, look at this article:

How Social Media Can Help Show What An Olympian Is Worth -- And Close The Gender Pay Gap
https://www.forbes.com/sites/alanag..../#2928e49c748f

Using its Hookit Valuation Methodology (HVM), the algorithm provides an earned media value (tangible dollar amount) to engagements by combing social interactions (likes, shares, comments and video views) with a content promotion quality score (size, clarity, position of logos), promotion type (hashtags or mentions), and an industry standard Cost Per Engagement (CPE).

During Pyeongchang 2018, Hookit found that Team USA's female athletes drove more social media engagements per athlete through the Olympics than Team USA's male athletes. While snowboarder Shaun White had the most engagements (11,805,104) of all athletes competing, the next three most engaging Team USA athletes on social media were all women – ice dancer Maia Shibutani (7,033,652), skier Lindsey Vonn (6,947,603) and snowboarder Chloe Kim (4,363,01).

 

[Ic3Rabbit]

Who are Rippon sponsors?

VOSS water for one. Star power is demonstrated in many ways other than smiling and endorsing a stupid product. But YMMV.

 

[yume]

I think Yuna Kim is the recent skater who became millionaire by contracts with giant companies as Nike,Samsung,Hyundai.
I don't think that there is a competing skater with the amount of endorsements and money that she made when she was competing.

 

[charlotte14]

The thing is people never know how rich some people truly are. Sponsorship is one thing. How much the deal actually is we don’t know. For example Toyota sponsorship sounds big but how much they actually paid to use the athlete’s image is another issue. $5000 is also a sponsorship from LG, can you compare it to $2000000 sponsorship from Nike?
Coca Cola sponsorship sounds big, but what if the deal is just minimum?
Also these skaters will never tell people how much they have earned each year.

 

[BillNeal]

Julian Zhi-Jie Yee, based on his Instagram page, seems to have gotten several endorsements (Samsung Malaysia and Omega watches for example), since becoming the first Malaysian figure skater to qualify for the Olympics. Glad that he is getting the recongnition he deserves

 

[Barb]

I think Yuna Kim is the recent skater who became millionaire by contracts with giant companies as Nike,Samsung,Hyundai.
I don't think that there is a competing skater with the amount of endorsements and money that she made when she was competing.

true, considering the popularity of the skaters, I think only Mao and Yuzuru could be close to the amount of money that Yuna got.

 

[shannie0989]

"When Yuzuru Hanyu claimed the gold in the Sochi 2014 Winter Games, he signed up with ANA as his sponsor, and endorsed Procter & Gamble products and Sendai Tourism. His fee for shooting a single advertisement rose to 50 million yen ($470,000) and recently, to 80 million yen ($752,000), equaling the fee of famous Japanese female figure skater Mao Asada." http://www.aipsmedia.com/2018/02/20/22409/pyeongchang-2018-yuzuru-hanyu-figure-skating-japan

This is Yuzuru's fee after Sochi, I believe it becomes higher after the record breaking GPF 2015 performance. How much more now that he is two time olympic gold medalist.

 

[Danny T]

"When Yuzuru Hanyu claimed the gold in the Sochi 2014 Winter Games, he signed up with ANA as his sponsor, and endorsed Procter & Gamble products and Sendai Tourism. His fee for shooting a single advertisement rose to 50 million yen ($470,000) and recently, to 80 million yen ($752,000), equaling the fee of famous Japanese female figure skater Mao Asada." http://www.aipsmedia.com/2018/02/20/22409/pyeongchang-2018-yuzuru-hanyu-figure-skating-japan

This is Yuzuru's fee after Sochi, I believe it becomes higher after the record breaking GPF 2015 performance. How much more now that he is two time olympic gold medalist.

Wow, that's ... a lot of money :shocked: Nearly 7 figures for 1 ad (and probably 7 figures now that he is 2x OGM & World Champ).

I did remember he shot quite a few advertisments for P&G too, and he basically has an invitation to any ice shows in Japan. I'm sure he values his privacy, but I'll be very interested to know his and the other top men's net worth

 

[kiara_bleu]

There was this article about Kim Yuna during the Olympics that was pretty interesting https://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/olympics/in-pyeongchang-a-surprise-visit-from-south-korean-icon-kim-yuna/article37973736/

But Ms. Kim's disappearance from the sport is also a reflection of the unique demands and rewards that define sport and celebrity in South Korea Abroad, Ms. Kim was known as a skater. At home, she was a star, a "national sister" mobbed by fans and corporations alike.

She endorsed Nike, Korean Air, Samsung, Hyundai and numerous others, and reached the pinnacle of sport and celebrity. Estimates of her annual income reached US$16.3-million (U.S.) in 2014, the year Forbes pegged her as the world's fourth-highest-earning female athlete, only one spot down from Serena Williams.

She occupied a spot on the Forbes Korea Power Celebrity top 10 list for six consecutive years. She maintains at least eight sponsorship deals today, Mr. Koo said.

For "Korean advertisers, all their Christmases came at once when Kim Yuna became popular," said James Turnbull, a South Korea-based author who writes about Korean feminism, sexuality and pop-culture.

Former South Korean advertising executive Bruce Haines once called the country's advertising "beautiful people holding a bottle."

Mr. Turnbull is critical of the unfair standards this imposes. South Korean Ahn Sun-ju was among the best golfers in the world, but South Korean advertisers said she needed plastic surgery if she wanted to appear in commercials.

Ms. Kim, however, "was tailor-made for Korean advertisements," Mr. Turnbull said. She is "young, attractive, photogenic, a figure skater – thin, tall – whose body is the type they want."

For Ms. Kim, meanwhile, not competing at the Pyeongchang Games has done little to diminish her popularity. It has, instead, rekindled it.

She has been chosen as an honorary ambassador for the Games – and, at least for those few weeks the Olympics is under way, she's back to being the most coveted spokeswoman in South Korea.

"Many people compare her to something like a goddess, not just a skating star," said Shim Chankoo, CEO of Sportizen, a Seoul-based sports marketing and consulting company.

"Even though she stopped skating, it doesn't really matter," he added.

 

[cheerio2]

I think Yuna Kim is the recent skater who became millionaire by contracts with giant companies as Nike,Samsung,Hyundai.
I don't think that there is a competing skater with the amount of endorsements and money that she made when she was competing.

Yes. And I believe she still makes a lot of endorsements and money after competing. In Korea's CF rankings (which are rankings of the star power and popularity of advertisement models), Yuna has continued to rank near the top after she finished competing, probably still ranks near the top even now in 2018, and probably will continue to do so for the foreseeable future. I think Yuna is by far the most successful skater ever in terms of endorsements and money, no other skater, past or present, can come close. Even Yuzuru, I don't think would be able to continually be a top endorsement model for years after he finishes competing like Yuna can.

 

[yume]

I think Yuna is by far the most successful skater ever in terms of endorsements and money, no other skater, past or present, can come close.

Michelle Kwan was not bad.

 

[cheerio2]

Michelle Kwan was not bad.

True. I'd say still not close to Yuna level though. Yuna at peak endorsement power probably made as much annually as Michelle did her whole career.

 

[aname]

Tessa and Scott have had a ton of publicity, sponsoring, and endorsement deals, all the way back to when they won their first OGM in Vancouver. They are very well liked in the skating community all around the world, not just in Canada.

Oh yes, I will never forget this Japanese car commercial feat. Tessa and Scott!

https://youtu.be/-zdM_0H133w

 

[yume]

True. I'd say still not close to Yuna level though. Yuna at peak endorsement power probably made as much annually as Michelle did her whole career.

Surely. Her agent was really good.

 

[cheerio2]

Surely. Her agent was really good.

From the article kiara_bleu posted, Yuna made over $16 million in one year. She made the Forbes list. She had her own skating show. She even had her own TV show at one point. Money wise, Michelle does not come anywhere close to all that.

 

[kiara_bleu]

Michelle Kwan in 2002 according to this Forbes article https://www.forbes.com/2002/02/11/0211olympics.html#3f43884a5264
has $2 million in endorsement annually with potential to command $10 million (probably if she got gold).