Competitive Sports and Clothing: A Global Market Phenomenon

Sports and clothing go hand in hand in today’s global market. The Nike brand has boost sales in sports equipment and attire with its ‘Just Do It’ slogan. Sports lovers want to feel as though they can play just as hard and are capable of doing just as well as their admired athletes.

The marketing ploy is: putting on the famous athletes clothing can make a person jump as high, race as fast, and ride as well as the athlete themselves. There’s no doubt that Nike is one of the top brands in sports. It has built its franchise on celebrity endorsements. The more clean cut, without scandal the athlete is, the more the market capitalizes on it and gains a nice profit by doing so.

Who’s Wearing What?

Tiger Woods

Tiger woods is the poster boy for any market’s dream. He’s clean cut, easy on the eyes, young, articulate, without scandal, and one of the top golfers in the world. In the year 2000, Nike of Oregon made a $105 million dollar endorsement deal which was an extension of the 1996 multi-million dollar endorsement deal when the golf star first went pro at the age of 21. The endorsement deal is so phenomenal that Woods even wears Nike when he’s promoting other products such as American Express and GM Buicks.

Michael Jordan

 

Michael Jordan is one of the greatest basketball players of all time. His articulate, handsome, and healthy image has attracted numerous endorsements. Nike created his own line of clothes and athletic shoes bearing his name. He is one of the highest paid and most recognized athlete in history. Michael Jordan is one of the world’s wealthiest former athletes with business interests and endorsement contracts. He has graced the U.S.’ best dressed list a number of times and is a class act when it comes to sportsmanship.

He was flying high literally on the court with his astounding jumps and hang-time (how long a person can stay in the air after a jump). By calculating his number of jumps which is 16,000, to the estimated 32,000 career points, experts say that Michael Jordan has been airborne for about 4 1/2 hours which compares to a flight from New York to L.A. His matchless leaping ability earned him the nickname, ‘Air Jordan.’ Kids and adults alike wanted to ‘be like mike’. Hence, sales from his endorsements and the popular sneaker bearing his nick name escalated his popularity to a league all his own.

It has been assumed that Michael Jordan ran and took a leap for the photo of his famous logo but as he states, “I wasn’t even dunking on that one. People think that I was. I just stood on the floor, jumped up and spread my legs and they took the picture. I wasn’t even running. Everyone thought I did that by running and taking off. Actually, it was a ballet move where I jumped up and spread my legs. And I was holding the ball in my left hand.”
- Michael Jordan

David Beckham

English ‘football’ (U.S. - known as soccer) star David Beckham has brought style again to the world of sports. He signed a $25 million, five year contract in 2007 to move to the U.S. and play for the Los Angeles Galaxy soccer team. His good looks affords him mass appeal and he has signed an endorsement deal with clothing designer Giorgio Armani. Beckham is the second soccer player to sign an underwear modeling contract. Beckham is no stranger to fashion. He has been spotted wearing a tight-fitted suit with white long-sleeved shirt and pointed-toe shoes. Once you go ‘Beck’ you can never go back.

Venus and Serena Williams

When it comes to winning, look no further. These two sisters are doing it for themselves. They are unparalled on the tennis court and have been such the ones to beat that when other tennis players couldn’t hold their own against them, they had to play each other.

Serena Williams is a former No. 1 ranked female World Champion in tennis. When Serena was just 4 years old, she won her first tournament and by the age of 10, won 46 of the 49 tournaments of which she played. Serena became ‘pro’ in 1995.

Serena also has a passion for fashion. She has launched a clothing line called Aneres, which is Serena spelled backwards. She says that unlike tennis, fashion comes to her naturally. This tennis fashionista has created quite a stir with her skin-tight outfits on the court and one that looks liked a cat suit. Serena also signed a five-year endorsement contract with Nike that could add up to almost $60 million in the future. http://www.aneresdesigns.com/

Venus Williams has also been successful in tennis and with endorsement deals. Victories at Wimbledon and the U.S. Open in 2000 led to a five-year, $40-million contract with Reebok, one of the largest single endorsement deals ever signed by a female athlete. Venus has also launched her own clothing line called Eleven which has more than 120 pieces. The collection consists of accessories, footwear, lounge wear, and tennis shoes. The clothing store Steve & Barry’s carries her affordable line. Most clothing costs under $20. http://www.steveandbarrys.com/