After the Paris Olympics, a new generation of athletes with the most commercial value emerged.
At the 2024 Paris Olympics, while veterans of the Chinese team and young players born in the 2000s won medals, the commercial value also ushered in a new peak. In fact, as early as before the Paris Olympics, major brands had begun to bet on signing contracts with athletes in multiple fields, aiming to seize Olympic marketing opportunities.
Tennis players have the highest commercial value, Zheng Qinwen This yearâs endorsement income may exceed 100 million yuan
The most sensational thing is undoubtedly the bets of various brands on "Rocket Girl" Zheng Qinwen.
html On August 4, 21-year-old Zheng Qinwen won the first Olympic singles gold medal in Chinese tennis history, creating history in Chinese tennis. According to reporters from The Paper, before the Paris Olympics, Zheng Qinwen had already secured cooperation with nearly 10 important brands, covering sports, luxury goods, high-end beauty, technology and financial companies, catering and other fields. These include brands such as Nike, Wilson, LancĂ´me, Yili, Swish, McDonald's, Bawang Tea Ji, Rolex and other brands.
In the 2023 income list of female athletes announced by Forbes magazine in December last year, Zheng Qinwen ranked with US$1.7 million in event bonus income and US$5.5 million in endorsement sponsorship income (approximately RMB 40 million), with a total income of US$7.2 million. At No. 15, he and Gu Ailing became the only two Chinese athletes to enter the top 20, becoming the first Chinese tennis player to be included in the list after Li Na. In Forbes' 2023 female athlete income list, 9 of the top 10 are tennis players, which shows the commercial recognition of tennis.
In addition to Zheng Qinwen, who won the women's singles tennis championship, the temporary tennis mixed doubles combination of Zhang Zhizhen and Wang Xinyu at the Paris Olympics also performed very well, winning a silver medal in their first collaboration. According to reporters from The Paper, Zhang Zhizhen signed contracts with brands such as Bright Dairy, Le Power, Cathay Pacific, Hublot, Gasgower, and Tumi before the Olympics. The brands he endorsed covered food and beverages, luxury luggage, high-end Sportswear, travel and other fields.
It is foreseeable that Zheng Qinwen's commercial value will "skyrocket" after winning the championship. The sports agency behind Zheng Qinwen is img, which also owns Chinese athletes such as Gu Ailing, Su Yiming, and Li Na, and is very good at business operations. Endeavor, the parent company of img, is the world's largest brokerage company.
Some media previously reported that Li Naâs annual income after winning the Australian Open was as high as 140 million yuan, and Gu Ailingâs income last year exceeded 150 million yuan. According to this calculation, Zheng Qinwen, whose income from bonuses and endorsement sponsorships last year exceeded 51 million yuan, will not earn more than 100 million yuan this year. impossible.
"The commercial value of athletes is mainly reflected in some endorsement cooperation and activity expenses. If you want to obtain further commercial value, you need to continuously refresh your record during the active stage to maintain a sense of presence." Internet industry analyst Zhang Shule told The Paper Because the Olympic Games has high global attention and is a comprehensive international sports event, winning a gold medal may be paid attention to by other audience groups, such as non-individual sports fans, and it is easy to achieve breakthroughs and global fame. This makes it compared with specialized events such as the World Cup. , or regional comprehensive events such as the Asian Games, etc., show exponential differences in commercial value.
Established consumer companies are keen to sponsor Olympic stars, and the rise of post-2000 athletes is favored by brands.
In previous Olympic Games, national team players such as table tennis, swimming, diving, gymnastics, and shooting are generally favored by brands.
The Paper reporter combed through the sponsorship endorsements of multiple events and found that in addition to sports-related brands, familiar consumer companies are the main force in sponsoring Olympic athletes. Among them, Yili is the official dairy partner of the Chinese sports delegation at the 2024 Paris Olympics. Before the Olympics, it signed sponsorships for athletes in table tennis, swimming, diving, shooting, tennis, badminton, track and field and other events. Travel platform Ctrip also made successful bets on signing and cooperation before the game. In addition, some mid-to-high-end luxury brands also started endorsement cooperation with sports stars before the game.
Specifically, table tennis has been a dominant sport for the Chinese team over the years. Whether it is "Little Devil" Sun Yingsha, "Big Head" Wang Chuqin or "Little Fatty" Fan Zhendong, each of them is a popular bet by major brands. Before the Olympics, the brands that signed contracts with many national table tennis players covered many fields such as food and beverages, clothing, cosmetics, daily necessities, and digital products. Among them, Chinese sports brand Li Ning has chosen to directly cooperate with the National Table Tennis Team as an entire.
The Chinese swimming team ended this Olympic journey with 2 golds, 3 silvers, 7 bronzes and a world record. It was also the most Olympic medals won in history. Among them, Zhang Yufei, a "veteran model worker" who was born in 1998, won 1 silver and 5 bronze medals in this event, with a total of 6 medals. The number of Olympic medals in his personal career reached 10, becoming the athlete with the most medals in the history of the Chinese team in the Olympic Games. According to reporters from The Paper, veteran Zhang Yufei has more than 10 commercial endorsements before the Olympics, covering clothing, cosmetics, daily chemicals, food and beverages, daily necessities, kitchen appliances and other fields. These include brands such as Tmall, China Pacific Insurance, Yili, Honor, Omega, Kelanli, Dior, China Mobile, Nongfu Spring, Chaoneng and Senge.
In the men's 4Ă100-meter medley relay final on the evening of August 4, Xu Jiayu, Qin Haiyang, Qin Haiyang, Sun Jiajun, Pan Zhanle came back to win the championship, breaking the 40-year monopoly of the American team in this event. Among them, veteran Xu Jiayu has become the brand spokesperson of the sports and leisure brand arena before the game, while Qin Haiyang, who was born in 1999, has cooperation with brands such as LV, Yili, Pacific Insurance, Super Energy, Nongfu Spring, and Anta.
It is worth noting that this is the second gold medal won by Pan Zhanle, a young player born in the 2000s, in this Olympic Games. According to reporters, Pan Zhanle, the "rising swimming star" born in the 2000s, has cooperated with more than 6 brands before the game, covering nursing. , tourism, food, Internet travel and automobile industries, including Qingyang, Mentholatum, Nongfu Spring, Ctrip, Jike, Didi Chuxing, etc.
Regarding the measurement of the commercial value behind veterans and young players, Wang Peng, an associate researcher at the Beijing Academy of Social Sciences, told The Paper that in addition to competitive level and professional strength, personal image and public image, social influence and fan base, project popularity and attention , athletesâ endorsement experience and commercial potential are also the focus of brands. Experienced athletes can better understand brand needs and cooperate with the brand in marketing activities; while athletes with commercial potential are expected to achieve greater success in the future and bring longer-term benefits to the brand.
During this yearâs Olympic Games, many post-00s rising stars suddenly emerged and conquered the global audience with their strength. The potential of post-00s athletes has also been favored by many brands, including the already hot Zheng Qinwen.
Among them, the "Diving Dream Team", as a team with a large number of post-00s players, currently has cooperation with nearly 10 brands, covering different consumer fields such as beauty, clothing, education, food, cleaning and care, and home appliances. In terms of gymnastics, Zhang Boheng, the leader of the post-2000 Chinese men's gymnastics team, has received endorsement cooperation from more than 5 brands before the competition, covering areas such as insurance, food, electrical appliances, tourism and sports brands. The "post-2000" shooting team combination Huang Yuting and Sheng Lihao won the first gold medal in the Paris Olympics for the Chinese team, and they had also signed a contract with Yili before the game.
The national feather team ended the Olympics with 2 gold medals and 3 silver medals. The two gold medals won by the national feather team came from women's doubles and mixed doubles respectively. The brands endorsed by Zheng Siwei and Huang Yaqiong's "YELTS" combination and Chen Qingchen and Jia Yifan's "Fanchen" combination before the Olympics have covered daily necessities, clothing, food, automobiles and other fields.
In addition, Liang Weikeng partnered Wang Chang participated in the Olympics for the first time and reached the men's doubles final and won the silver medal. It is worth noting that in early July this year, among the three groups of spokespersons announced by Ctrip, the "Liang Wang" group was included. In addition to this combination, there are also Chinese swimmer Pan Zhanle and gymnast Zhang Boheng.Interestingly, these four athletes are all "post-00s": Zhang Boheng and Liang Weikeng were born in 2000, Wang Chang was born in 2001, and the youngest Pan Zhanle was born in 2004. The foursome became members of Ctrip's gold medal men's team.
A new wave of endorsements for athletes is coming? Some companies say they plan to strive for more cooperation opportunities with athletes.
After the Olympics, the wave of athlete endorsements will become another important business opportunity. For corporate brands, the post-match popularity will provide them with new marketing opportunities.
At present, "sports stars" obtain advertising endorsement fees and sponsorship fees by becoming brand spokespersons, image ambassadors, etc., which has become one of the main ways for athletes to monetize. The promotion of cooperation between brands and athletes has gradually become a way for both parties to seek a win-win situation. It not only provides athletes with a broader development platform, but also injects fresh vitality into the brand.
Why are companies keen on cooperating with sports stars?
html On August 6, Ding Lu, General Manager of Ctrip Travel Brand Integrated Marketing, said in an interview that the biggest characteristic of sports stars is that they are less likely to collapse, and they can better represent the normal trend of a country or an industry. Ding Lu further said that as far as Ctrip is concerned, there are no stepped terms when signing contracts with athletes or artists, and there will be no pricing per person. âAt most, there will be risky terms, such as generating very large-scale negative public opinion, and new fees may be negotiated. But under normal circumstances, prices will not be modified based on gold, silver, and bronze medals or external trends.âAs for the factors to consider when choosing sports star spokespersons, Ding Lu pointed out that unlike FMCG brands with relatively large budgets for the Olympics, they may directly choose to recruit teams or To anchor the popular gold medal candidates, Ctrip has a low budget. It will mainly consider the players' competition results in the past year, historical card winnings, appearance and age, as well as existing business endorsements to select cooperative players. It needs to predict whether the players are younger. , good results, high international attention for the project, and built-in traffic and topicality.
"The brand will consider the long-term value and professionalism of the athletes, as well as whether they are in line with the brand's tone and can shape the brand image with an international attitude." The relevant person in charge of Bawangchaji told The Paper that Zheng Qinwen showed positive and positive attitude on the field. The healthy and international image, as well as the spirit of outstanding performance and perseverance, are highly consistent with the brand spirit. The choice of Zheng Qinwen as the health ambassador is based on the deep recognition of each other's values ââand concepts between the two parties. Bawang Chaji announced in April this year that Zheng Qinwen would become the brandâs first âhealth ambassadorâ. Not only Zheng Qinwen, for this Paris Olympics, Bawang Chaji also gathered many world-class athletes such as Liu Xiang, Wang Shun, Zheng Qinwen, Chen Qingchen, Jia Yifan, Liu Qingyi and other world-class athletes to form the Bawang Chaji Health Ambassador Team.
Ding Lu also revealed to reporters that she will launch some business cooperation projects with the signed players in the future. âI plan to put my remaining rights and interests on projects related to Chinaâs inbound tourism promotion. If there is an opportunity, Ctrip also wants to strive for more Opportunities for cooperation. "
However, Yin He, head of Asia consumer industry research at J.P. Morgan, told The Paper that as this year is a year of competition, many sports brands will sponsor different events and increase investment in marketing expenses, which may actually have a negative impact on sales. The direct pulling effect will not be too big, but more of a mid- to long-term investment and construction from the perspective of product image, value, and reputation. It is difficult to clearly quantify the return on investment of this part in short-term financial reports, especially when it is necessary to further refine the return on investment of different categories in different markets.
