Some basketball players may be basing their decision to leave early on the endorsement deals they believe they will be able to procure.
Brian Berger of Sports Business Radio believes that endorsement deals have become the deciding factor when talented, but not superstar, college basketball players are considering making the jump early to the pros. 
The rationale behind such thought is that the new NBA rookie pay scale is rather low (although I am not sure that it is significant enough to cause a change in decision making) and endorsement deals keep rising. Either way, endorsement opportunities are important for athletes to make a big chunk of change, and should not be undervalued when looking at reasons behind why many players go to the pros before graduating.
A lot of money is being thrown around by shoe companies for the rights to a player’s name. In fact, there may be a shoe war developing, which also may be a shoe-world war with Li-Ning of China being in the mix [Let the NBA Shoe Wars Begin!]. Players jumping ship from their colleges to enter the draft may be wrong in their assessments, however. The big money is mostly going to established NBA players and only the select few marquee college basketball stars looking to enter the draft. I hope that Aaron Afflalo does not anticipate any huge deals now that he has (prematurely?) entered his name into the draft [Afflalo Affirms Ascendancy Away From Amateur Arena].
-Darren Heitner
12 replies on “The Size Of The Shoe Matters”
I don’t know whether this is a big issue in the US, but a couple of year ago there was an issue with an AFL player signing a personal endorsement with a boot company and his club signing a deal with a rival brand. Do things tlike this occur in the US and what are the outcomes?
In the US the leagues sign league wide deals. The NFL has a league wide deal with Reebok, but Nike, Under Armour, and adidas have endorsement deals with players.
In the NBA adidas has the league wide deal, but players have endorsement deals with Nike, Converse, And1, Starbury, Reebok, etc.
The player can where whatever shoes he wants, but the other stuff he wears for practices and games must be team-issued. So Reggie Bush can wear adidas cleats, but his wristbands, socks, performance wear, etc all has to be NFL Equipment, which is made by Reebok.
I think progressively over time, these contracts and their values will be diluted. With so many superstars and their own brands of shoes (and other accessories), only so much can go around to the respective markets. Furthermore, I think we are going to slowly see a trend of athletes selling affordable shoes for exceptionally low prices to help the lower-income demographic (i.e. Stephon Marbury’s Starbury One & now Ben Wallace has joined). And besides, if these athletes actually take equity ownership in these companies, they’ll still see their dollars they want, kids around the country can wear the sneakers of their favorite player that was previously impossible, and of course, it never hurts to help one’s public image.
So, $20 for the new Kevin Durant kicks? Only time will tell….
For the record, pretty much every player that plays in the NFL and NBA has a shoe deal, the vary in prices. Nike won’t make, likely, a custom Durant style. Very few players get their own custom style of shoes…
doesn’t Adidas own Reebok now?
Yes they do, but they operate as separate companies, they have their own p/l statements, their own executives, etc.
Yeah but they’re under the same parent umbrella is all I meant. It’s not like they’re in competition.
They are in competition, talk to the adidas reps and Reebok reps fighting to sign what’s left (after UA and Nike splashed cash) for the top NFL prospects.
You’d think that would ease over time though. They each service the same shareholders, no? It seems their end goal is to ease that kind of friction. From a column, post merger:
“The companies say they have already identified about $150 million in annual savings from their combined operations. But the real test of success for Adidas’ acquisition is how well the company manages its new portfolio and executes new products and marketing plans that allow the two big brands to complement each other rather than duplicate efforts.
Reebok and Adidas have been targeting NBA players and hip-hop artists for endorsements and product identity co-branding. Adidas has a successful line of shoes and apparel going with singer Missy Elliott, while Reebok’s lines built around rap stars Jay-Z and Fifty-Cent are outselling shoe lines developed around its National Basketball Assn. stars.
One strong possibility, say analysts, is Adidas concentrating on upper-end performance shoes, while Reebok covers the middle-priced market. Steve Lauletta, president of marketing firm Radiate Sports Group, says he could see Reebok maintaining its focus on its apparel licensing with the National Football League and the NBA, for example, while Adidas concentrated on selling performance shoes in those sports where its brand value trumps Reebok’s.”
I agree they should work together, it is in the best interest of the company as a whole, but the individuals that work for the Reebok side and then the individuals that work for the adidas side, their job security will depend on how successful they are and the brand they represent…
Not to mention any names, but I know the individual in charge of recruiting and signing NFL athletes to the adidas brand. His job depends on acquiring the right talent, at the right talent to represent the adidas brand, in reality he could care less about the shareholders. The same with the individual that oversees Reebok’s NFL player division.
Also, I’ve heard from several individuals that Reebok and adidas are in some battles right now against each other to sign the remaining top talents in this year’s draft. UA and Nike took several stars (UA got Thomas and Willis, Nike got Russell, Quinn, Peterson, Johnson). So Reebok and adidas are creating bidding wars against each other for the same guys that are left over…
The NFL also has rules about endorsing certain products.
Just ask Brian Urlacher..
http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=2841997&campaign=rss&source=ESPNHeadlines