Aug 19, 2008
Lets get one thing straight…Michael Phelps is unstoppable. And, as it stands right now, he’s on top of the world, he is clearly the biggest story of the 2008 Olympics (even with Usain Bolt breaking world records with his shoe untied and his arms outstretched). But will Phelps’ dominance translate into endorsement dollars and have the same sort of impact that another dominant fringe sport athlete (Tiger Woods: Greatest Athlete Ever) has had over the years?
In a single word…Nope.
But why? We are in the middle of “Phelps-emonium” right now! Michael Phelps has single-handedly carried NBC’s ratings in the Olympics, drawing over 40 million viewers in USA during his record breaking performance. An Olympic performance which, has seen Phelps break records for most gold medals by a single athlete of all-time and most gold medals during one Olympics. His sponsors have certainly benefited, as pointed out by Sarah Talalay,
Michael Phelps’ dominance in the swimming pool and five gold medals on his quest for eight in Beijing have boosted exposure for his sponsors to the tune of $9 million.
That’s what Joyce Julius & Associates, a Michigan firm that measures sponsor value, figures adidas, Nike, Speedo and Visa have picked up in primetime broadcast exposure on NBC.
Logos for those companies on Phelps’ apparel have garnered six minutes of on-screen time during NBC’s broadcasts. Joyce Julius measures on-screen exposure by the cost of advertising during the broadcasts.
The Nike logo on the warm-up jacket Phelps has worn during the medal ceremonies has a gotten three minutes and 33 seconds of airtime, which Joyce Julius believes is worth $5.3 million. Another $3.6 million in media exposure comes from Speedo logos on his warm-up jacket, swim cap and bodysuit.
So, with all of that build up, why will we not see the same sort of wide-scale acceptance that we’ve seen with Golf since Tiger Woods burst on the scene all those years ago? There are a couple of reasons…
1. Swimming. It is swimming. Swimming and golf…both fringe sports, right? Right. But it doesn’t seem like swimming has anywhere near the mass appeal that golf has (I can’t believe I’m writing this sentence either). Golf has a storied history to reference, a history that swimming just doesn’t have. That history has already created a fan base that swimming, even with an invincible athlete setting world records in nearly every race, can’t begin to match. What is swimming’s version of the Masters? Or the U.S. Open? Or Jack Nickalus? Or Ben Hogan?
2. America loves food. Did anyone see Michael Phelps? Dude has a serious 6-pack. Anyone seen John Daly? Dude really drinks a 6-pack before each event. Now I think we can all agree that America might have “what doctors call…a little bit of a weight problem.” (c) Tommy Boy. Many of those Americans that would go out and try golf after seeing the dominance of Tiger Woods will not go swimming after seeing the experiencing the dominance that is Michael Phelps because…its hard to eat chips while you’re in the pool. And please, don’t think that because Phelps has a 12,000 calorie a day diet the average American can do the same thing and pull off Phelps’ body.
3. There aren’t enough events. I’m not going to go into specifics (read as: I don’t know them), but golf has so many tournaments that showcase Tiger and other golfers. Swimming on the other hand…well, I assume there are various swim meets during the year (maybe? apparently.) but I certainly don’t think anyone knows about them. More importantly, I doubt that Phelps, as the sport’s biggest draw, participates in every meet either.
4. Swimming endorsements don’t carry well nationally. Akin to point #2, the products that swimmers endorse don’t really carry well with all Americans. Don’t believe me? One word. Speedos. Swimmers spend their athletic career wearing swim caps, goggles and body suits. The products (outside of the sports drink or some unrelated product) fail to have any cross appeal. You can wear baseball/football/hockey/basketball/golf paraphernalia while playing that sport, or while you’re at the mall. Your Michael Phelps enodrsed speedo? Not so much.
So in the end, will we see an increase in people wanting to go swimming? Of course. We’ll also see Phelps pick up or strengthen some endorsements in the upcoming months. But is he about to become the endorsement machine that is Tiger Woods? Not unless swimming inexplicably becomes a lot more popular, such that its worthy of national television coverage, or they start holding the Olympics every year.
…he’s still pretty unstoppable though.
TV By The Numbers: Michael Phelps Shines in Record Gold; But Not Live California
The Business of Sports: Phelps Golden for his Sponsors
2 comments
I don’t have a six-pack stomach like Phelps. I do have a mini-keg.
My problem with Michael Phelps is that he has no personality. He is a robot is a LZR suit. He can plaster corporate sponsors’ names over his warm-up suit. However, he cannot get me to emotionally identify with the sponsors because he is a robot with no personality.
If the speedo is ever to make a comeback on this side of the pond, it will be because some American actors start wearing the suit proudly–Borat not included. In the meantime, I’ll wear my boardshorts that go down to my Taliban ankles.
Swimming in america is much like soccer. It has a huge world wide appeal that is not reflected here in the States.
Now that Comcast is offering us the Big Ten network and swimming is big time in many college towns I think that it might be gaining more of a foothold here.
As Olympians go though there is usaully always at least one swimmer to note in 1988 it was Janet Evans, in athens we had Amanda Beard, the point being that swimming is popular and with increased exposure it could do very well.
he main problem with this and most other Olypic sprts is our networks do not genreally cover the World Champiosnhips cause mostly they are help in Europe or at former Olympic cities. For whatever reason American TV does not cover these events so there are large breaks in our actual awarness of these athletees.
I was very surprised to learn Phelps has been training at Michigan University a school that is about an hour from my porch.
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