US$100m contract for Bolt?

[Don1]

...interesting. But potentially "change the direction of Jamaica"?

Bolt offered US$100m Chinese contract

Published: Tuesday | September 22, 2009

Leighton Levy, Gleaner Writer
Usain Bolt
A five-year, multimillion-US-dollar deal reportedly offered to sprint sensation Usain Bolt by a Chinese company could also allow the athletics superstar to eventually spin off his own division of the firm.
The company in China is also reportedly willing to buy out any entity with which Usain might have agreements, and would supersede them in base salary while offering a licensing deal that Bolt currently does not have. If Bolt agrees to the deal, it could be signed in a matter of weeks.
Bolt is currently signed to sporting goods maker Puma AG, which reportedly pays the world record holder in the 100- and 200-metre sprints and triple World Championships gold-medallist about US$1.5 million a year. Puma CEO Jochen Zeitz recently disclosed that, after his success in Beijing in 2008, analysts estimated Bolt's media market value to be about US$358 million. The media market value is equivalent to what the company would have to spend to get similar exposure from regular advertising.
A big change
The Chinese deal, which offers Bolt licensing rights inside China and exclusive distribution rights in markets outside that country, is being negotiated by Anza Marketing Group Inc, the exclusive marketing agent in China for the triple Olympic champion. Ajani Williams is the CEO of Anza.
"Anza, through its work over the past eight months, has received several offers, and most notably, two major offers, one of which would eventually change the landscape for Usain Bolt in terms of his sponsorship and endorsement market rate. It would change the landscape of track and field, it would change the outcome of his life, and probably even the direction of the country," Williams said of the proposal on the table, adding that Anza had a counteroffer that could double the sum mentioned.
Shortly after Anza became Bolt's agent in China, just under a year ago, it began talking to partners in the Chinese company about possible deals. This monster deal, however, came together about eight weeks ago, Williams revealed, adding that the negotiations were difficult given the worldwide economic downturn.
Tipping point
Bolt's performance in Berlin, where he broke two world records and won three gold medals, was the tipping point, he said.
Williams was unable to disclose the name and nature of the company, citing the risk of compromising the integrity of the deal, but gave the assurance that if Bolt signed, then those details would be made known. He did reveal that conservative valuations show that Bolt could earn around US$115 million from the deal over five years, but there was the potential to exceed US$300 million, based on sales in China and the world market.
"China is the world's largest market and these kinds of deals were not available to people like Michael Jordan 20 years ago," Williams explained. "Usain now has the chance to be empowered and empower a new generation of track and field athletes and all athletes and become the CEO of his own empire."
He said an athlete of Bolt's calibre has to capitalise as much as possible on licensing deals, along with guaranteed base-salary endorsement deals. It also gives the triple Olympic gold medallist the opportunity to use this new deal to leverage similar deals, which would force companies to adjust their current market rates.
In recent times, Chinese sporting-goods companies have signed several major sporting stars, including basketball stars Shaquille O'Neal and Baron Davis. Just this year, Russian pole-vaulter Yelena Isinbayeva was signed by Chinese sporting goods company Li Ning to a deal worth about US$1.5 million a year.
Bolt is also being offered a deal worth between US$200,000 and US$400,000 a year from another company, sina.com, which Williams describes as the Chinese version of Yahoo. The site hosts one of the biggest sports blogs in China. Basketball stars like Kobe Bryant reportedly earn as much as US$400,000 a year just for posting blogs there, Williams said. He added that blogging on the site would help Bolt keep his brand relevant in the Chinese market, establish his value, and set him up for many more deals.

Anza has received several offers and most notably, two major offers, one of which would eventually change the landscape for Usain Bolt in terms of his sponsorship and endorsement market rate. It would change the landscape of track and field, it would change the outcome of his life, and probably even the direction of the country.

Ajani Williams
CEO of Anza

'

[Bricktop]

If they are offering $100 million he is worth 4 times that. Play hardball Usain.

[Hortical]

$100M is a drop in the bucket in terms of what he is worth. Time to dump Puma.

[Gamma]

is a pity seh bolt born and grow and train in jamaica otherwise he would surely have been worldclass! ~sigh~

[Jangle]

Remember this post:




Jangle vbmenu_register("postmenu_169797", true);
Reggae 5 Star General
Join Date: Jul 2006
Posts: 3,524


Is Bolt being properly handled?
I had this discussion with a friend of mine over the weekend. We both came to the conclusion that enough is not being done by Bolt's handlers to maximise Bolt's achievements and world popularity. The marketing possibilities are endless. He has so many plusses - his name, his affable personality, his youthfullnes etc. I was very disappointed when I heard his manager stating that it's not far-fetched for Bolt to be earning US$10m per annum. Why such a low target? His potential puts him to at least 3 to 5 times that amount.

My friend made a comment that holds some amount of truth. He said that Bolt's handlers are in awe that they are holding the contract to an athlete with such earning potential that they are overawed as to how to maximise it. He compares them to Jeb Clempet (sp) from the old series The Beverley Hillbillies when he found oil on his land.

His manager should be pounding the pavements and should be sitting on the phone trying to speak with the marketing directors of major companies to get them to endorse Bolt. His face should be plastered on billboards worldwide. They missed a major opportunity shortly after the Olympics when Bolt was photgraphedsitting in a Ferrari. He has already gone on record professing his love for BMW. His manager/agent should have been on the phone pitting these two major car companies against each other for his signature. Bolt is synonymous with speed. Puma also needs to step up to the plate. When asked about the increased sale of sneakers since the Olympics, their execs have been very vague even though they admit to the increase. That Puma contract should have or needs to be renegotiated. Do I hear Nike calling? I thought it was a slap to our intelligence as blacks and as a Jamaican when Puma offered Bolt the BMW as a gift. It reminded me of those new hip-hop artistes being offered a big gold chain when they join a "crew" - Rough Riders or Cash Money crews. Wow!!! That's selling ourselves short when we accept these temporary gifts instead of asking for a bigger share in our image rights. This is how the Beckhams, Ronaldos, and the Tiger Woods of sports become wealthy. I just read the Forbes Top Ten earnings of actors. The number one actor for 2008 was Harrison Ford. He gave up a salary for the movie Raiders of the Lost Ark to share in the gross earnings of the film between himself, George Lucas, Steven Speilberg and the movie studio after they had recovered the cost of making the movie. He ended up with US$62m and still counting.

http://www.zlatatretra.cz/video.asp?id=17


http://www.zlatatretra.cz/video.asp?id=18

http://www.zlatatretra.cz/video.asp?id=19

[Jangle]

You know what? Let me just put up the link because some of the posts made for some very interesting reading. Calling out Sickko and Mosiah.

http://www.reggaeboyzsc.com/forum1/s...ad.php?t=26087

[Islandman]

Interesting reading indeed.

[Don1]

is a pity seh bolt born and grow and train in jamaica otherwise he would surely have been worldclass! ~sigh~

It's not a pity..it's really brilliant that he's Jamaican....and even that his close management is still Jamaican.

We must have a very short learning curve to maximize our brand power in the marketplace....meaning develop the right partnerships and bring on the top hired guns available.

The window for this is very short...and closing all the time.

[Hortical]

Yes boss, and we did talk about this issue at length!

[Sir X]

Puma betta up it or expect the buy out, because that contract is chump chnage.

$10 million a year with a 70 % of image rights is more than reasonable.

[Gamma]

but don 1 .... you don't understand...NOTHING world class comes from jamaica...yuh haffi guh a merrykah first...it is written!

[Gamma]

and so what is the conclusion...who was on the winning side of that debate?

[Sir X]

I dont think Don 1 was around when that started Gamma , anyway Don 1 ..im a throw wud a H.L .

[Islandman]

Look like there was about 4 sides but some man side look a lot worse than others!

[Jangle]

Here's my take on this "contract". Of course, Bolt needs a "real" attorney (Gamma) to go over the fine prints properly. We don't know what this company produce/sells, but let's assume that it's not WMD. I would presume that if he does sign the contract, it would require him spending a lot of time in China and the rest of Asia if it's a multinational company. He needs to put into the contract a set time period (number of months out of the year) when he would be in China. Probably him and his team would need to set up a training camp there. How would that affect Racers and their other athletes? With that amount of money, the Chinese would be DEMANDING in their requests and his schedule would have to be carefully outlined and monitored by his team. Bolt needs some quality time partying in Jamaica to perform at his optimum, but at the same time he would have to realize that he is working on his fortunes. He CANNOT pull an Onandi Lowe when he got that Mexico contract and look to abscond saying that he's "homesick". The Chinese would probably confiscate his passport. The bottomline is that he needs to seriously consider taking up the offer as Michael Jackson said. "This Is It!" This is the foundation to greater things for him and others coming up.