I doubt many people could name a handful of athletes that competed in the 2010 Winter Olympics before they began. If you leave out ice hockey, I know that I could not name a single athlete that competed before the onset of competition outside of Shaun White. However, as the Olympics have come to an end, many of the triumphant athletes are inking major endorsement deals. But do names like Lindsey Vonn, Apolo Anton Ohno, and Evan Lysacek (Gold medal winning U.S. figure skater) really have the staying power to make a noticeable difference on company profits?
I personally find it hard to believe that many people will recognize and remember many of the accomplished athletes of these winter Olympics six months from now. I think the hype for many of these athletes will fall faster than the public’s interest in the sport of curling. Many of these sports lack the mainstream appeal that it takes to build public interest and attention. This could be a major hurdle companies will face when choosing whether or not to hire a person like Lindsey Vonn or Bode Miller to market their products.
From an article in Darren Rovell’s blog “Sports Biz,” he elaborates on some of the major endorsement deals U.S. Olympic athletes have already signed. Lindsey Vonn is set to earn about two million dollars from her deals with Red Bull, Rolex and Procter & Gamble, Lysacek has deals with Coca-Cola and AT&T, and Ohno has endorsement contracts with Coca-Cola, AT&T, Nestle and Omega. Whether or not these marketing campaigns will be successful is yet to be determined, but I am not sure I would be willing to take the risk when well-established athletes like LeBron James, Peyton Manning, and Derek Jeter are so readily marketable. Apparently, major marketing directors around the United States and the rest of the world are not deterred by a lack of mainstream appeal and are willing to shell out big bucks to get the endorsement of Olympic athletes.
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