Which Canadian Olympian will strike endorsement gold?
Long before these 2010 games, there were the athletes we knew, the favourites of the media machine.
Lindsey Vonn had her bikinis, Shaun White had his millions and, hey, even Patrick Chan had a CTV commercial or two.
But as the Olympics have drawn to a close, it’s fit to start wondering which athletes will be able to parlay their flood of exposure into endorsement gold from here until Russia in 2014.
(Yeah, I know, who cares about this right now? We just won 14 golds! Well, guessing the athletes do: according to Michael Simonson’s book Heat Stroke, about 80% of Canada’s amateur competitors live below the poverty line.)
Let’s start by debunking one chief myth about Olympic sponsorship deals. The alpha dogs aren't guaranteed to get paid. Athens gold medal gymnast Kyle Shewfelt had this legend proven false when, after the Canadian signed with global marketing firm IMG, he was only pulling in a reported $35,000-$40,000 a year by 2008.
Also, it’s worth tempering our expectations a little. Local Olympians aren’t likely to command Shaun White, $7.5 million-a-year American money because our country’s “limited sponsorship opportunities … (make it) rare for a Canadian medal winner to earn more than $500,000 from corporate deals,” a marketing source told the Star.
Of course, that's not to say there's no money to be had. That same Star article illustrates how past medalists Catriona Le May Doan and Silken Laumann, for example, could’ve commanded up to $10,000 for a speaking engagement following their Olympic success.
So, which Canadian athletes look primed to deliver marketing magic following Vancouver?
We’d like to say Joannie Rochette, our nation’s courageous figure-skating flag bearer, or Brian McKeever, the inspiring cross-country skier, will strike it big, but let’s face the reality of their circumstances: the “it” stories of the Olympic games often don’t translate to lasting big media success.
Two of the early favourites who could find resonating mainstream cachet might be ice dancers Scott Moir and Tessa Virtue, who stole the first week of the Olympics with a three-night marvel that culminated in gold.
But the real front-runner may just be curler Cheryl Bernard (dubbed the “curglar” by ESPN’s Bill Simmons) who, judging by the number of cutaways CTV gave her at last night’s closing ceremonies, we’re likely to see a lot more of between now and Sochi.
By Jason Buckland, MSN Money
Posted by: Dave Brown | Mar 1, 2022 11:45:34 AM
Speculating on the ability to monetize a 15 minute brush with fame into long term commercial success is not an easy formula. Considerations include the obvious youthful, aesthetic appeal and the popularity of the sport, but also the personality of the athlete.
Most of these sports are not heavily followed and there is no reason to believe that people are going to follow these medalists in future world cup events. If the sport was not compelling before, it is hard to believe any longer term traction of these events will gain marketshare on hockey.
Many athletes have "the look" for mass marketability, so the personality would be a point of differentiation. Jon Montgomery seems to have a positive energy and a strong sense of humour, which could translate to various arenas outside of sport. Beyond public speaking engagements...he might even find a few roles on television shows. He has already produced more laughs than the Beachcombers.
Posted by: Gis Bun | Mar 2, 2022 1:13:32 PM
I can see Rochette story being converted into a movie of the week thing - either by CTV or CBC or maybe a Quebec only channel. But I suspect she won't get much there.
Some of the female hockey players will get endorsements. Halley [sic?] Wickenheiser and Kim St. Pierre have endorsements with those egg commercials. A few athletes got McDonald commercialsa - but we probably won't see much of them after the Olympics.
Posted by: GARRY BARLOW | Mar 2, 2022 2:32:29 PM
LADIES CURLING CHOKED COULN'TN TAKE THE PRESURE TWICE THE SKIP BLEW IT GIVE BACK THE MONEY
Posted by: L.A. in T.O. | Mar 3, 2022 9:33:02 AM
She's a'ight, I personally don't see what the big deal is. No doubt the Cros is going to cash in big time. And I agree with Mr. Barlow, big time choke. Shame that!
I think what's cashed in more than anything is our national athem, have you seen the Wonderbread commercial with the kid's singing their rendition of O Canada? Now, THAT is priceless!
Posted by: Daniel | Mar 5, 2022 8:45:18 AM
If it's based on commercial/corporate attractiveness... well we do have a few to choose from. Crosby aside... there's McIver (pure hotness), Hollingsworth (sentimental patriotism), Bilodeau and Rochette (touching stories and marketable).
For fun, we've already seen John Montgomery on Oprah... but his edge might scare a few corporate sponsors away...
I would not be surprised to see almost ALL our CDN medal winners get something. Some may be insigificant contracts - but we might see a few big endorsement offers.
Time will tell.
Posted by: BK | Mar 9, 2022 12:16:52 PM
What about Tessa Virtue & Scott Moir - the first North Americans to win Gold in Ice Dance? They're both attractive, articulate and funny. That should be worth something!
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