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Endorsements

Expanding Presence Overseas

Brandweek.com has an interesting story covering the immense marketability of star Yao Ming.Yao loves his french fries

Ming receives about $15 million per year in endorsements alone. China is an emerging market economically speaking, and may also open many eyes in America as more athletes arise in U.S. professional leagues.

The 2008 Summer Olympics will be in Beijing, and many American countries are trying to find a way to gain presence during that period of time. Reebok, McDonald’s, Visa, etc. do not have to worry about how they are going to achieve such presence, because they are among the many companies that have already signed Yao Ming for big-time endorsement deals.

NBA Commissioner David Stern has been quoted as saying:

Nobody was more of a global icon than Michael Jordan. But Yao . . . is a symbol of [China’s] renaissance and their determination to compete on a world stage.

Sports Agents may find interest in trying to find the next Yao Ming of China, or perhaps the first superstar of another emerging market.

[tags]yao ming, china, olympics, beijing olympics, endorsements[/tags]

By Darren Heitner

Darren Heitner created Sports Agent Blog as a New Year's Resolution on December 31, 2005. Originally titled, "I Want To Be A Sports Agent," the website was founded with the intention of causing Heitner to learn more about the profession that he wanted to join, meet reputable individuals in the space and force himself to stay on top of the latest news and trends.

Heitner now runs Heitner Legal, P.L.L.C., which is a law firm with many practice areas, including sports law and contract law. Heitner has represented numerous athletes and sports agents as legal counsel. He has also served as an Adjunct Professor at Indiana University Bloomington from 2011-2014, where he created and taught a course titled, Sport Agency Management, which included subjects ranging from NCAA regulations to athlete agent certification and the rules governing the profession. Heitner serves as an Adjunct Professor at the University of Florida Levin College of Law, where he teaches a Sports Law class that includes case law surrounding athlete agents and the NCAA rules.

One reply on “Expanding Presence Overseas”

I think that as Yao Ming develops as a basketball player in the NBA, he’d be worth even more to the Houston Rockets, the NBA and China. He can have a measurable, positive impact especially to the NBA as it tries to establish itself as a truly global sport. With the retirement of Michael Jordan, the NBA experienced a drop in viewership and emerging stars like Yao Ming and LeBron James could be the solution.

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