For most players, getting off-the-field deals requires serious effort and a customized strategy. Jack Bechta
Believe it or not, one of the hardest things to do as an agent is to get your player marketing and endorsement deals. If you represent Tom Brady, Peyton Manning or Brett Favre, it might be as easy as fielding the offers that flood in. But what about the other 1700 players? What do they get?
Randy Moss is looking for a new agent. He has said that he “can do commercials” and that he wants to “start preparing for life after football”. He wants an agent who can make things happen for him. As a matter of fact, the biggest reason why players fire their agents is due to a lack of marketing deals. Players realize that there are opportunities out there to be had, and they want an agent who can go get them.
On any given team there are 53 guys in the locker room. However, only a handful get to make some extra income from off-the-field opportunities. The ring-bearing superstars of the NFL barely lift a finger to land huge deals with national brands. Meanwhile, players on bad teams in small markets struggle to get extra fries at the local Steak & Shake. As many as 10 players can land some decent local deals if they are in a big market on a good team, and the rest are fighting for the scraps.
It may come as a surprise that in San Diego, the best deals mild-mannered Chargers star LaDainian Tomlinson could do were local pizza chain and hot tub retailer ads. Eventually, Vizio signed him up for a national deal, but the previous low-budget commercials featuring, arguably, the team’s most recognizable player serve as a perfect example of how tough the endorsement game can be.
In the late ‘80s and early ‘90s, players were getting all kinds of freebies: food, cars, clothes, hotel rooms, golf clubs, watches, hunting trips, cruises, and unlimited amounts of food and drinks for showing up at a local bar for Monday Night Football. Today, agents have to work harder in digging up deals and cash-paying opportunities. With many car dealerships going out of business and their margins being squeezed, the car deal that was once an easy layup is quickly fading out of reach for nearly all players. Trading card companies used to pay top draft choices six figures prior to draft day. Not anymore!
Today’s smartest (and sometimes most ego-driven) players are turning to social media and reality TV to build their brands. If tastefully done, heavy exposure through these mediums can help to power a career as a pitch man.
Even relatively unpopular NFL players occasionally land commercials or hosting gigs because they know how to make themselves memorable. Washington Redskins TE Chris Cooley found some real estate online and garnered a huge following and a modest income at chriscooley47.com. Cincinnati Bengals LB Dhani Jones made a name for himself away from the football field as the amiable host of a Travel Channel show.
For a player to be attractive to brand names and services, he must first get exposure by making himself personable and accessible. You have to give to get! Do the community service, interviews and free public speaking engagements, and the deals will come.
I hear Randy Moss is an intelligent guy. The NFL fans (and the brands who want to reach them) need to see and hear more from him if he wants to land some off-the-field opportunities. We need to know who he is as a person before we want to hear about the products he endorses.
Personalities like Charles Barkley, Warren Sapp, Chad Ochocinco, Michael Strahan and countless others have put themselves out there in ways that work for them, and they have all reaped the benefits in the form of paid endorsements and stable careers after their playing days. To achieve these kinds of results, a player must work with his agent to create a plan for optimal exposure based on his own unique characteristics (personality, position, years in the league, team, market, etc.) It is then our job to ensure that that plan is followed and off-the-field earnings are maximized.
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Get back to your roots, endorsements for home town or alma mater area businesses should be the prime way of expanding your visibility. Especially in the second sense, for possible corporate hookups.
Speaking appearances at company functions may be another item to consider during these times. That is where you can and should implement the tweet account, etc. as a way of creating these appearance avenues.
How much money do these guys need? If I made the NFL minimum for a couple of years I'd never have to work again.
Yeah, Randy, it's your agent's fault that you can't get endorsement opportunities. Sure... right. It has absolutely nothing to do with the fact that you're a total knob. He should tell his new agent to check out some of these fine ideas ...
Blue Moon Lager
a cross-promotion of Meineke Auto brake service and the TV show "Cops"
5 Hour Energy Drink "Hi, I'm Randy Moss. I used to get so tired that I felt the need to take plays off and even walk off the field before the end of my team's games. But now, with the help of my 5 Hour Energy Drink..."
Or maybe he could start his own line of automobiles: Mercurial Motors. This car would have tremendous speed and maneuverablity, but it would have a built in "stall gear" that would kick in at random intervals.
DD-393 - You are correct about one thing - you'd never have to work again. But it wouldn't be because you'd have enough personal capital to support yourself, you'd be on the welfare dole. Be careful about extrapolating the headline figures you see for earnings - there are tons of expenses that players have to incur, including in some cases paying taxes in more than a dozen states depending on when and where they played. In most cases, the combined, all-in tax rate players incur are at or above 50%.
Moreover, inflation over the course of 60-70 years means a multi-million dollar portfolio, even when managed correctly, can't support withdrawals in the out years when they're often 5-10 times the size of withdrawals a player needs today. I've worked with NHL players with $5-6 million portfolios that still have to come up with some form of supplementary income.
Players earn a lot, but the combination of a very short career and very long retirement makes it much harder than you'd think to make ends meet.
Incredible article Jack. So readable. So understandable. Great topic and you covered it perfectly.
It's hard for Randy Moss to get endorsement/marketing deals, not because he isn't a very talented player, but because he's never going to shake his image of being a punk. That dates back to before he even came into the NFL. His "I'll play when i want to play" nonsense along with walking off the field before the game was over in Minnesota, the squirting of NFL officials and trying to run over a traffic cop in his car with a joint in the ash tray paint an everlasting image of him that he's going to have a terrible time trying to shake, especially for a national type endorsement/commercial opportunity..
It's hard for Randy Moss to get endorsement/marketing deals, not because he isn't a very talented player, but because he's never going to shake his image of being a punk. That dates back to before he even came into the NFL. His "I'll play when i want to play" nonsense along with walking off the field before the game was over in Minnesota, the squirting of NFL officials and trying to run over a traffic cop in his car with a joint in the ash tray paint an everlasting image of him that he's going to have a terrible time trying to shake, especially for a national type endorsement/commercial opportunity..
Jack -
Thanks for your efforts at NFP - always look forward to your posts as they are always interesting. Some good comments above too. It's no mystery to me why Randy Moss doesn't have endorsements whereas a guy like Donald Driver, modest endorsements though they may be, seems to be sought after in the state of Wisconsin because of his seemingly personable nature. Even Gilbert had a burger or something named after him locally because as Dan or Mike above mentioned about Randy Moss - Gilbert came across as a good guy and not a knob...
What happened to his Nike endorsement? I think you can be a knob (or a cheating liar) and still be with Nike.
Personally I wouldn't go out of my way to buy ANYTHING just because a player endorses it. A name means absolutely zilch to me and I usually buy generic everything even when I can afford the higher priced junk.
When was the last time a big name player endorsed a generic brand of macaroni? It tastes the same as brand names, cooks about the same, but the box is just plain black and white, but Randy Moss's face on it would make it taste better or make me live longer? I don't think so.
Gee wiz, player X says it's better than brand b so why not buy it? Because I'm not in the business of supporting guys who only have to work for a tenth of their lives, that's why.
Personally I wouldn't go out of my way to buy ANYTHING just because a player endorses it. A name means absolutely zilch to me and I usually buy generic everything even when I can afford the higher priced junk.
When was the last time a big name player endorsed a generic brand of macaroni? It tastes the same as brand names, cooks about the same, but the box is just plain black and white, but Randy Moss's face on it would make it taste better or make me live longer? I don't think so.
Gee wiz, player X says it's better than brand b so why not buy it? Because I'm not in the business of supporting guys who only have to work for a tenth of their lives, that's why.
good post!!Thanks for your suggestion!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I see Vidal Hazelton #7 on the Cincinnati Bearcats being a 1st round pick. By far he is the BEST receiver I’ve seen. Obviously he has not played for 2 years. But the NFL Scouts don’t buy the hype. They will do the homework and see that this guy is the real deal. He is a very physical player. Reminds me of Anquan Boldin and Blocks like Hines Ward. Those who have seen him knows he is a contender that will move up draft boards. Believe it or not. This guy was ranked higher than Percy Harvin, Matt Stafford and a number of high profile players coming out of high school. According to Mike Farrell and Bob Litchenfel of both Rivals and Scout.com. He was the best WR at the 2006 Army All American game. Percy Harvin, Tim Tebow, Mathew Stafford, Chris “Beenie” Wells, Gerald McCoy and Andre Smith all played in that game. Hazelton was ranked the #1 WR in the Nation by Scout.com and the # 3 player overall by ESPN in 2006. This is not by coincidence. Several reputable football authorities saw the same things in this playmaker. I see great things for this NFL prospect. DJ Woods is another player that people are sleeping on. He will rocket up draft boards as well. Hazelton is definitely helping the UC recruiting.
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Jun 05, 2010
11:19 AM
Jack,
Great article as usual. I have always questioned why an athlete would limit endorsements to one agent/agency? Would it not make sense for a player to just let it be know that ANY agency that brings something to him would get consideration? Why limit your chances to the contacts and limited time of one agency in this arena?