The Beginning
Before television, endorsements still played a major factor in sports. Small Business states, “before the widespread distribution of television, some of the earliest celebrity product endorsers were professional athletes. Babe Ruth endorsed Wheaties cereal” (Small Business). Thanks to television, endorsements just became even more important, and a lot more money became involved. The rise of television played a huge factor for not only how sports were viewed for entertainment, but also the way the business was ran. Television gave athletes a platform to build up an even bigger fan base for not only the team they played on, but also the individual players themselves. Great athletes were no longer just “great athletes,” they were superstars.
Effective?
YES. Using star athletes to increase sales in products is very effective. After a study done by Gaurav Pant from Bharati Vidyapeeth Deemed University, his findings revealed “that brand endorsement of any sports product by a star or exceptional athletes can really increase the consumer” (Research Gate).
Contracts vs. Endorsments
Lebron James is one of the greatest athletes today, as well as one of the most popular. Television and social media has allowed Lebron to grow his popularity, resulting in companies willing to pay big bucks to use his face and name to promote their product/brand. According to Investopedia, “In the second year of his deal with the Miami Heat, LeBron raked in $12,880,000. Nevertheless, he brought in almost three times as much ($33,000,000) by simply allowing his name and face to appear on products” (Investopedia). More and more companies are using superstar athletes as the face of their product and it is very effective. Dr. Karla McCormick of Florida State University writes, “in 2010, U.S. companies paid nearly $17.2 billion to leagues, teams, athletes, coaches, and sports personalities to endorse their goods and services” (NSGA).
Another huge endorsement deal from a superstar athlete is Odell Beckham Jr. and Nike. 24/7 Sports states, “even if the Giants pick up his fifth-year rookie option, the contract will still be less than the five-year, $25 million endorsement deal he just signed with Nike” (24/7 Sports). In many cases, athletes contracts are smaller than their endorsement deals.
On behalf of all athletes with endorsement deals… Thank you television.
Sources:
Media and Sports 
This was great! I honestly didn’t even think to compare endorsement deals to contracts. I just saw them as separate large number entities. Thanks for going from a broad overview to two specific examples!
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I thought you did a good explaining how television has increased the amount of endorsements throughout history. It would be interesting to see how revenue endorsements have brought to the companies because of television and athletes. It is incredible to me how Lebron is one of the highest paid athletes athletes already and he is making even more money off of endorsements. In your first sentence, you probably need to add a comma after television.
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This was a very interesting read! I had no idea that TV would have been the main component to building the world of endorsements. I also fund it very interesting that in some cases endorsements can actually pay athletes more than their own sports! In the 5th sentence I believe it should be “was run” instead of ran. But great article overall!
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