LeBron James and Freddy Adu ...
Thursday, May 29, 2003
The sports marketing and advertising business never seizes to amaze me.
Last week, we witness an endorsement deal beyond human comprehension. Yes, I am talking about LeBron James and his Nike deal worth $90 Million !!! According to sports experts and analysts, to put that into perspective, that amount is more than first endorsement deals signed by Michael Jordan(1984:Nike:$2.5M), Shaquille O’Neal(1992:Reebok:$3M) , Kobe Bryant(1996:Adidas:$5M), Allen Iverson(1996:Reebok:$50M), and Tracy McGrady(1997:Adidas:$12M) *COMBINED* !?! What ??? Those 5 individuals *COMBINED* can't even match the value being imposed on an 18-year-old high school kid ?!
And that's not all, it has been widely known that age doesn't stop corporate sharks from hounding young sports phenoms. 13-year-old American soccer prodigy, Freddy Adu, is another such example. Fresh off the press ..... it has been reported that Freddy has just agreed to a $1 Million contract with Nike yesterday according to the Washington Post !
I believe I will continue to be amazed for a long, long time.