On the back of the NBA All-Star Game a couple of weeks ago, Forbes.com did an analysis of the top endorsement deals in basketball, and compared them to the the slightly less insanely lucrative packages seen in other sports.
The numbers are inflated somewhat by the earnings of global icons LeBron James and Kobe Bryant. In 2013, LeBron made $42 million from his endorsement partners. Currently these include Nike, McDonald’s, Coca Cola, Samsung, Upper Deck, Audemars Piguet and Dunkin’ Donuts.
Bryant earned $30 million from endorsements last year, mostly from Nike, but he also has deals with Turkish Airlines, Lenovo, Hublot and Panini.
Basketball's top 10 endorsers in 2013 netted $155 million in deals between them. This dwarfs the nearest US competitor, the NFL, whose top 10 brought in $55 million combined, with Peyton Manning's contracts accounting for $12 million of that amount. Their counterparts in Major League Baseball could only muster $30 million in total sponsorship deals.
What, then, are the reasons for the NBA's astronomical numbers? The marketability of basketball shoes and the truly global appeal of the game, say Forbes, which is hard to argue with. Baseball shoes or football cleats can't be worn on the street, and Kobe and LeBron are international icons, while the person on the street in Hanoi or Hannover might not instantly rattle off the names of Derek Jeter or Adrian Peterson.
It may seem surprising that football's top ten earners still come up short in relation to the NBA's leaders. In 2013, they bagged $120 million between them. Messi and Ronaldo lead the way, of course, but they're still joined by David Beckham at the top of the sponsorship tree - they each received in the region of $20m million from their sponsors.
In golf, the exact details of Rory McIlroy's 2013 deal with Nike were not fully disclosed, but it is believed to be in the region of $250 million over ten years, which puts him in Ronaldo territory but still behind top NBA figures. In 2012 Tiger Woods, despite all his tribulations, still brought in $77 million in endorsements, while his on-course earnings were $9.1 million. As a comparison, Pádraig Harrington is believed to have made $6 million in endorsements, in addition to $2.75 million on-course that same year.
NBA Player/total endorsement income/shoe sponsor (2013)
LeBron James: $42 million (Nike)
Kobe Bryant: $34 million (Nike)
Derrick Rose: $21 million (Adidas)
Kevin Durant: $14 million (Nike)
Dwyane Wade: $12 million (Li Ning)
Carmelo Anthony: $9 million (Jordan/Nike)
Amar’e Stoudemire: $6.5 million (Nike)
Dwight Howard: $6 million (Adidas)
Blake Griffin: $6 million (Jordan/Nike)
Chris Paul: $4 million (Jordan/Nike)
