Super Bowl Domination

Chapter 254 Troika
There is no doubt that football is the undisputed number one sport in the United States, with far ahead commercial value and market share and almost no competitors.

Let alone the Super Bowl, whose viewership easily exceeded 100 million, just look at the draft every year.

The live broadcast on the first day of the draft easily surpassed the NBA Finals and MLB World Series in ratings.

According to statistics, in 2016, football occupied of the top TV programs in the United States in terms of annual ratings.

No one can challenge the dominant position!
However, compared with the popularity and influence of rugby, the players' income is really shabby and embarrassing.

The top superstar players in the NFL only earn 30 million U.S. dollars a year; in the NBA, this is common and can only be considered average.

Currently, the highest endorsement contract between Nike and football players is only $2.5 million per year. Many of the league's top players, including Manning, have contracts of similar levels.

This is the top level. Compared with LeBron James' billion-dollar contract, it is simply the gap between a baby and a giant.

The reason?
Why is football the number one sport in North America, with the revenue and value of teams, leagues, and broadcasting rights all leading the way, but player income is so low?

From a theoretical point of view, this is unscientific and even against the law. NBA and NFL players have repeatedly discussed such differences publicly.

But from a market perspective, it is perfectly normal.

The reason is actually very simple:
There are too many players.

On the basketball court, there are only five people, and the total number of players on a team is at most fifteen; but in a rugby team, each team has fifty-three players, with at least twenty-five starting players alone, and more than forty rotation players who can appear in each game.

It is conceivable that in a football game, fifty-three people divide the commercial space, which is naturally not comparable to the fifteen people in a basketball game.

When a brand tries to connect with consumers through professional athlete endorsements, the sheer number of players in baseball and football has led to lower contract figures; basketball players and individual players, especially in tennis and golf, have always been able to command higher prices.

In addition, the price gap between NFL and NBA sponsorships is really shocking. Basketball players may earn hundreds of millions, but football players cannot even get a contract worth tens of millions. Another reason is the characteristics of the sneaker consumer market.

Like football shoes, rugby shoes are spiked shoes, which are very professional and specific in purpose. This makes it impossible for ordinary people to wear them in daily life. In contrast, basketball shoes are approachable and people can freely choose basketballs as daily shoes, which also leads to an essential difference in the market base.

Here, the "Air-Jordan" series jointly created by Michael Jordan and Nike plays an important role, truly making basketball shoes a fashion that penetrates into every aspect of daily life.

Thanks to this, Jordan can now get at least $100 million in dividends from Nike every year; and, this is just Jordan's dividend, you can imagine how terrible Nike's profits are.

Therefore, the figures for sponsorship and endorsement contracts vary greatly.

In fact, it's not just sponsorships and endorsements. The salary level of NFL players is also far inferior to that of NBA players. In addition to the huge player base, there is also the issue of salary cap.

The NBA has a soft salary cap with a lot of exceptions, while the NFL has a hard salary cap with no room for flexibility.

But that’s another story.

Now let’s turn our attention back to brand sponsorship.

The official sponsor of the NFL is Nike. The jerseys and equipment of each team are all from Nike, but Nike does not fully cover the buyout. The players' gloves, sneakers, quick-drying clothes inside their jerseys and other accessories, as well as personal training suits outside of games, are all within the scope of free choice of sponsors.

Currently, another major official sponsor of the NFL is Under Armour. This brand, founded by professional football players, has been working with the league since 1998 and is responsible for all apparel sponsorship outside of non-competitive sports.

Off the field, brands such as Adidas, Puma, etc. are also continuing to compete fiercely. Although they have not been able to cooperate with the official NFL, they continue to seek cooperation with players, hoping to get a piece of the pie from North America's number one sport.

Then, all the focus fell on Levi.

As the first Asian player to be selected in the first round of the NFL, the topics and discussions surrounding Levi have never stopped; but in the blink of an eye, two weeks into the regular season, Levi still has no sponsorship contract. Obviously, this is not normal.

The fact is, it's not that there is no brand sponsorship, but that Donald is biding his time.

Since Levi announced his participation in the draft, brands have begun contacting Donald one after another, but they lack sincerity and are purely trying to ride on the popularity.

First, Levi is a rookie with a short career. If he becomes a substitute or rotation player after entering the league, brand sponsorship will be ineffective.

This is the case with Wang Kai, the first Chinese player to enter the league in 2010. As a forward, Wang Kai has always appeared as a rotation player and his exposure is really limited.

Secondly, Levi is a running back, and his commercial value is not as good as that of a quarterback, wide receiver, linebacker, etc., and the risk of injury cannot be underestimated.

Even if Levi successfully becomes the starter, what if he gets injured after a few games? Or is he like in the preseason, shining in one game and then quiet?

Due to various reasons, brand sponsorship did not show enough sincerity.

Donald looked down on them all.

Although the amount of the NFL sponsorship contract is far less than that of the NBA, the figures of $50,000 or $100,000 per year are more like speculation. After all, such sponsorship contracts would have seemed shabby even in the NBA in the 1980s.

Donald has been waiting and being patient. He believes in Levi's ability and his value. This is why Donald was willing to visit him three times.

Sure enough, Donald waited.

In the season opener, Levi caused an uproar in the league with his outstanding performance. Some brands couldn't wait and contacted Donald immediately; but Donald was still not in a hurry. He was waiting for other competitors to emerge.

After the second game, Donald's office phone was busy.

Nike. Adidas. Under Armour.

All three major players in the NFL are present, and no one is missing.

Despite this, Donald still seems very calm, everything is under control——

Donald knew that the biggest difference between Levi and other football players was his Chinese identity.

Especially when the league's president, Goodell, is wholeheartedly trying to open up the Asian market, Levi has the privilege of being exposed with the league's official endorsement.

This also means that Levi's net worth can only go up, not down.

Donald needs to seize the opportunity:
Creating momentum is the first step.

At this time, LeBron just came to the door, so Donald naturally would not be polite. It didn't matter even if LeBron had something to ask for, because Donald also had his own calculations.

Donald asked amiably after throwing a heavy pound.

"What about you? What are your personal preferences?"

"If there is a brand you personally particularly like, we can focus a little more on it during the negotiation."

(End of this chapter)