The top of the NBA endorsement food chain is led by
LeBron James and Kobe Bryant. Both are global superstars who made $42 million and $34 million, respectively, last year from endorsement partners. James has been one of the NBA’s top endorsers since he was drafted by the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2003. His current partners include Nike, McDonald’s, Coca Cola,
Samsung Electronics , Upper Deck, Audemars Piguet and Dunkin’ Donuts.
The four-time MVP is the NBA’s top endorser.
Five championships and 18 years of All-Star play transformed Bryant into the most popular player in China with a little help from his main backer, Nike. Bryant also has deals with Turkish Air, Lenovo, Hublot and Panini for merchandise.
The NBA’s top 10 endorsers pulled down $155 million last year by our count. It dwarfs the totals in baseball and football. MLB’ s 10 biggest endorsers earned less than $30 million off the field last year with only Derek Jeter and Ichiro Suzuki (all in Japan) making more than $3 million from sponsors and merchandise. The NFL’s top 10 made $55 million from endorsements, led by Peyton Manning at $12 million in 2013. The NHL lags even further behind with the 10 biggest stars making $15 million cumulatively.
“
It’s gotta be the shoes,” Spike Lee told us 25 years ago, as his alter ego Mars Blackmon in a series of Nike commercials. And the gap between NBA players and others in team sports all starts with the shoes. The NBA’s biggest stars can command more than $10 million annually from Nike and
Adidas . Nike represents almost half James’ off-court income, and James was the
NBA’s leading shoe salesman in 2013 with $300 million in retail sales in the U.S. of his Nike signature shoes, according to research firm SportsOneSource. Rose signed a 13-year, $185 million contract with Adidas in 2012. A $1 million a year shoe deal is extremely rare for an NFL or MLB star. Basketball players move product unlike their counterparts in other sports.
Basketball players can also take advantage of the global nature of the sport. Bryant has made trips to China the past eight years for Nike and he is one of the brand’s main chips in its battle against Adidas in China. Bryant partnered with Turkish Airlines in 2010 and has been featured in commercials with global soccer star Lionel Messi. James’ Dunkin’ Donuts deal is for Asia only, and he entered into a new partnership with Chinese Internet services firm Tencent last year. These deals are not available to football and baseball players.
Source: Forbes
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