Ashley Harkleroad’s Happy Trails?
Well…that certainly was quick.
Ashley Harkleroad, America’s new sweetheart sports superstar 23 year old tennis player, had her playboy pictorial come out at the end of last week (the pictures are obviously NSFW). And while there seemed to be much fan-fare in the sports blogging world about her pictorial, mainstream media and mainstream sports media didn’t really pay that much attention.
As a matter of fact, if you google “Ashley Harkleroad” these are the news results that you receive, only one article, by The Sporting News, that even mentions Ms. Harkleroad after word of the story initally broke in May. So what can be gleaned from this situation? The initial purpose of this whole photoshoot (besides money and whatever self-empowerment it gave to Harkleroad) was publicity; putting the #72 ranked women’s tennis player in the national spotlight. Sure, it wasn’t going to increase her tennis abilities, but it could always lead to endorsements or sponsorship…Hell, Anna Kournikova wasn’t good at tennis and she had a K-Swiss commercial years after she retired. Amanda Beard posed for playboy last year, and she turned it into an FHM shoot and a deal with Go Daddy. Maybe Harkleroad does need to go to the Olympics after all, to garner some exposure for herself.
From a sports agency/representation and marketing stand point, this seems to be a very interesting case study. Athlete uses the oldest trick in the book; namely, taking her clothes off, to garner some attention (like I said before, all self-empowerment issues aside), and by the time we get from the announcement to the actual pictures…no one cares. So, what went wrong? She’s certainly attractive enough, she managed to be mentioned in every major media outlet back in May, she’s arguably the biggest sports star to ever pose nude while still playing her sport…What gives?
Marketing majors, sports agents, and general geniuses…Leave your thoughts in the comments.
Sports Business Digest: Ashley Harkleroad, first Tennis Star in Playboy…Good or Bad?
This entry was posted on Sunday, July 20th, 2008 at 2:57 pm and is filed under Fringe Sports, Miscellaneous. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.
6 Responses »
Additional comments powered by BackType
RSS Feed
E-mail Feed
Follow us on Twitter!
Never even heard of her until the story broke about Playboy. Obviously a good move for her. Athletes are entertainers first and foremost, looking to maximize their income anyway they can both on and off the field. Always have been surprised more male and female athletes haven’t gone down this road…
Exactly, who are we to judge? If we’re offended by nudity for some reason, we don’t have to look at the photos. It’s her body, her life, and her decision. Who cares?
I think it’s a smart move on her part. She is thinking about her future.
Su, Nice link. Ummm. Smart woman. If it is not tennis, so what?
Hello. And Bye.