From hit men to pitch men
Sosa, McGwire may reap $6 million from chase deals
Posted: Monday September 28, 1998 08:08 AM
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McGwire and Sammy Sosa are sure to cash in on many endorsements in the off-season AP |
NEW YORK (AP) -- Advertisers will be more than casual observers
this weekend as Mark McGwire
and Sammy Sosa
take their final swings for baseball's single-season home run crown.
No matter who wins, marketing experts say the remarkable chase will likely
give each slugger the chance to make millions as a pitcher -- of anything
from soft drinks and fast food to automobiles. "Advertisers are
hedging their bets," said Bob Williams, who heads Burns Sports in Chicago,
an agency that matches athletes with companies. "The large advertisers are
talking to both camps." During the last weekend of the regular
season, Sosa hit his 66th home run Friday night, five ahead of the old
single-season mark set by Roger Maris in 1961. McGwire had 65.
Williams said the athletes themselves have deferred consideration of most
endorsement offers until after the season, citing a desire to focus on
baseball. There have been exceptions, however. McGwire and Sosa each
agreed to allow MasterCard to make a credit card ad featuring video of them
hitting home runs. The commercial started running three days before McGwire
was the first to break the Maris record. It has since been edited to
include both of their 62nd homers and the two of them celebrating after
McGwire's blast. McGwire made a commercial for Walt Disney World
after his 62nd home run. Sosa made an ad for McDonald's that ran only in
the Chicago area. Williams estimates McGwire and Sosa could wind up
with $3.5 million to $6 million each in endorsement deals. Brian J.
Murphy, publisher of The Sports Marketing Letter which tracks
endorsement deals, expects they will each get a minimum of $5 million from
endorsements. That would put them among the 10 highest athlete-endorsers.
It would be a huge financial leap for both players. Experts
estimated each earned less than $250,000 from endorsements last year.
McGwire may prove appealing to automotive, telecommunications, fast-food
and soft drink companies who want to capitalize on his "All American" image
and size, the experts say. He may also sign a shoe contract. Sosa,
who is from the Dominican Republic, should be especially attractive to
global advertisers who sell products in Latin America, Williams said. Sosa
spoke in English and Spanish in the McDonald's ad that ran in August.
Will it matter who wins the home run title? "dvertisers are human
and want to associate their products or services with winners," Williams
said. But some advertisers may try to sign both players for
commercials, playing off the apparent camaraderie they showed as the home
run chase intensified. Mark Leonard, who heads Integrated Marketing
Solutions which represents Sosa, said he and McGwire's agent, Bob Cohen,
have agreed to let each other know when advertisers propose deals involving
both players. Two calls were placed to Cohen but were not
immediately returned. Leonard said he has fielded 40 to 50 different
proposals for Sosa from marketers, advertisers and makers of collectibles
last week alone. "Now we have to look at what we want to do," he
said. He expects Sosa will sign "at least a couple national deals" that may
include a car, credit card, soft drink or food. Sosa's contract with Nike
expires early next year. Even as the home runs were flying,
baseball's highest-paid endorser, Cal Ripken Jr. of
the Baltimore
Orioles, stirred additional interest last Sunday when he ended his
unrivaled streak of consecutive games played at 2,632. Murphy
estimates Ripken made $9 million last year from endorsements for products
including Chevy trucks, Fram oil filters and Starter apparel. His
agent, Ira Rainess, fielded more than 100 proposals ranging from
advertising to collectibles that will commemorate the streak number.
He said the end of the streak "brought back into focus" the enormity of
what Ripken had accomplished by not missing a day at work in 16 years.
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