Not only is success on the field important, but how they conduct themselves of the field as well. They want to endorse athletes who are respected by those around them. There have many many great athletes with a bad reputation outside of the game they play. This can greatly affect their endorsements. From Lance Armstrong to Michael Vick, the advertising landscape is littered with celebrity athletes who saw their marketing potential decrease rapidly because their image had been tarnished. If you pick an athlete to endorse your product and that athlete gets embroiled in a personal scandal, or is accused of cheating or another off-field transgression, that negative perception could reflect poorly on your sales as well. There is a long list of atheltes who have lost endorsements due to scandal. This list includes Tiger Woods, Lance Armstrong, Michael Vick, Barry Bonds, and Michael Phelps. Endorsements can also be lost due to a downturn in their athletic performance can. An aging running back with a knee injury, a baseball player hitting .200, or a golfer who can’t make the cut won’t be desired by consumers and won’t be worth the time or money spent to endorse them. Nike and other brands want athletes who have a great image and are able to maintain that image on and off the …show more content…
Before the signing, 1983, Nike’s revenue was $867,212. In 2007, Nike’s total revenue from sales was $16,326,000 — that was six million more than Adidas (Forbes, 2014). Almost all this credit can be given to Michael Jordan. If Jordan did not sign with Nike and signed with Adidas, the sports landscape most likely would have been different. You would not have top-flight talents trying to sign with Nike because their idol did before them. For example, when LeBron James came out of high school in 2003, he wanted to follow in the same footsteps as his childhood idol, Michael Jordan. He wore number 23, just like Jordan, and he also signed with Nike, just like Jordan. James signed a $90 million dollar contract with Nike before even stepping foot on a professional basketball court. If Jordan signed with Adidas, it’s a safe bet to say that Lebron would have done the same. Everybody, including the best athletes in the world, want to be “Like Mike”. To this day, Nike Jordan’s are the pinnacle of the U.S basketball shoe market. Out of the $4.8 billion U.S shoes market, the Jordan brand made up 58% of the market at $2.4 billions. Keep in mind that Jordans are just one type of Nike basketball shoes. They still sell Lebron’s, Kobe Bryant’s, Kevin Durant’s, and more. Nike’s share, including Jordan’s, makes up 95.5% of the U.S basketball shoe market. Competitors like Adidas, Reebok, and Under Armour help make up the last 4.5%