Sports Management: Is He India's Most Valuable Brand? [Pg.2]

Contn.
Is He India's Most Valuable Brand?

Other Local Wannabe-Brands

VENUS WILLIAMS

Other than Sachin, WorldTel's Mark Mascarenhas has taken in Ajit Agarkar and Robin Singh. Percept D'Mark pulled off a coup of sorts when it grabbed Saurav Ganguly after the Indian captain's contract with WorldTel expired late last year. But that's as big a name as Percept can boast. Other than Ganguly, there's Zaheer Khan, Yuvraj Singh (who's has been in and out-now in-of the team), Nayan Mongia, Mahesh Bhupati, Vijay Amritraj, and a little-known motorsports wannabe Asif Nasir. IMG, which in the West represents such mega-names as Tiger Woods and Pete Sampras, has to be content with names like Hrishikesh Kanitkar and Debashis Mohanty in the team today, but tomorrow who knows?)

TIGER WOODS

P. Gopichand may have recently won the England Open, but drop shots and smashes count for nothing in the face of square drives and pulls. Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupati may still figure in the top 10 doubles rankings, but, then, they don't hit sixes. And Vishy Anand may come closest to displaying two rather un-Indian traits-consistency and the killer instinct-but can you imagine a pawn pusher pouting: ''Yeh Dil Maange More?''

But does that mean that marketers who zero in on the flannelled fools to peddle their wares are riding the gravy train? Not really. That's because cricketers, or rather the good ones, don't come cheap. Tendulkar, for instance, takes home between Rs 4 and Rs 6 crore for each of his seven endorsement contracts.

SAURAV GANGULY

What about the others, you might well ask? As Sanjay Lal, CEO of Percept D'Mark points out: ''There are only three-four players in the Indian side whose place is secure.'' So what this means is that if a marketer decides that a Sachin or a Ganguly or a Dravid is too expensive, he can plump for a...err...Yuvraj Singh or a Kanitkar. Of course they all look might silly when these gentlemen lose their place in the team. That's why some companies are now realising the merits of going after non-cricketers, or rather individual sportsmen. A tennis player or a golfer is always on the circuit, and there's no question of him being made to sit out. That's a risk a cricketer runs. Unless of course he's Sachin Tendulkar.

ANDRE AGGASI

These brands are bigger: At 25, Tiger Woods is three years younger than Sachin. And whilst even the most optimistic Sachin supporter won't give him more than seven years in the game, a golfer can just go on and on. That's why analysts feel that it's just a matter of time before Woods becomes the first sportsperson in history to breach the $1 billion barrier via endorsements.

That's 47 times what Sachin is expected to rake in by 2005. In fact, experts expect Tiger to comfortably sail through that figure. ESPN projects that Tiger's life-time earnings would tot up to a whopping $6 billion, with three quarters of that coming from product endorsements. P.O.V. Magazine prefers to be a tad less optimistic. After roping in a J.P. Morgan derivatives guru it projected that Tiger's earnings by the end of his career would tot up to just $2.3 billion.

MICHAEL JORDAN

This is largely via endorsements for Nike, Rolex, American Express, and General Motors' Buick. For instance, the Nike contract is reportedly worth over $100 million over five years. Tennis player Venus Williams late last year reportedly signed a $40 million, five year deal with Reebok, making her the highest paid female sports endorser. Andre Agassi, meanwhile, has a 10-year contract with Nike, which is reportedly worth $100 million.

Only Michael Jordan-who at one time was estimated to be earning $91,000 per rebound!-comes close to Woods. Jordan, according to Forbes magazine, earns $40 million a year and Fortune magazine says that the hoopster was pumping all of $2 billion into the US economy by selling cologne, sneakers, and underwear. The only difference? He's been out of the game for three years now. That's something for Sachin and Mark Mascarenhas to mull over.

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