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“It’s unique,” says Sonny Vaccaro enthusiastically. He is the man who signed Michael Jordan to Nike and Kobe Bryant to Adidas. “In my entire life of evaluating the financial worth of athletes, I have never seen anything like this. This kid will go down in history.”
Who does Vaccaro mean? Victor Wembanyama, 19 years old, 2.15 meters tall, basketball prodigy from France and the big name in this year’s NBA draft.
The Frenchman is likely to be called up by the San Antonio Spurs. But before Wembanyama makes his NBA debut, it’s about the first big contracts. Especially about that of his future personal outfitter.
Will LeBron James’ record be broken?
In February, one of “Wemby’s” agents, Bouna Ndiaye, spoke in an interview with ESPN about the symbolic threshold of $100 million a shoe brand should pay.
This would be a record for a player who has never played in an NBA game. Even before the 90 million that Nike offered in 2003 for today’s superstar LeBron James (38).
With the French giant already signed with Nike, the American sporting goods manufacturer is in pole position for a new deal. Mega hype about a mega deal.
Non-Americans attractive only since Yao Ming
The supposed number 1 draft also benefits from a changed market. Steve Rosner of the renowned American agency 16W Marketing describes how foreign players were of little value to sponsors for decades. That even applied to names like Hakeem Olajuwon, Dirk Nowitzki and Pau Gasol.
For Victor Matheson, a professor at Holy Cross University, the tide turned in 2002 with the arrival of the Chinese Yao Ming. “He was important because he opened up the Chinese market to the NBA,” he recalled.
Today, the NBA has more fans outside its territory than in the US. “Victor can open new markets for the NBA,” expects Matheson. According to Rosner, its international profile can even attract multinationals with global marketing strategies, such as Yao Ming Coca-Cola, McDonald’s or Visa at the time.
20 years ago, playing in a small market like San Antonio could have diminished a player’s commercial appeal, however much. But “the NBA is now globalized,” Sonny Vaccaro recalls, thanks to streaming and social networking. “None of that matters anymore.”
Source : Blick
I’m Emma Jack, a news website author at 24 News Reporters. I have been in the industry for over five years and it has been an incredible journey so far. I specialize in sports reporting and am highly knowledgeable about the latest trends and developments in this field.
