Never mind Lady Gaga, Oprah Winfrey and Justin Bieber. The
Queen of England, the Pope and Barack Obama also trail Roger Federer in a
list of the world’s most respected figures (only Nelson Mandela is
higher). The Swiss is also earning more money than ever before, with an
estimated annual income of 30 million pounds. The Tennis Space examines
why Federer, two years after his last grand slam victory, has never
been as influential as he is now.
These are Roger Federer’s boom years. Not between the tramlines – it
is now a couple of seasons since he won his last slam title at the 2010
Australian Open, and he starts this year as the world number three –
yet, off the court, he has never been more powerful, more influential,
or earned so much. Federer has biffed aside Lady Gaga, Oprah Winfrey and
Justin Bieber, with the American business magazine Forbes putting the
Swiss at the top of their rankings for press coverage, while a survey by
the Reputation Institute made him the second most respected figure in
the world, behind only Nelson Mandela. The Queen of England, the Pope
and Barack Obama trail a tennis player from Switzerland.
Federer in decline? He is approaching 10 million Facebook fans, more
than any other tennis player, while in recent Swiss elections, more than
100 people voted for him, even though he had not put himself forward as
a candidate, by writing in his name on their ballot papers.
You will be wanting to know about the money, what this all means for his
wealth. Two years after that last major, Federer is making more money
than ever before, with Forbes estimating that the Swiss banks almost 30
million pounds a year, which is 10 million pounds more than the second
highest tennis player on the money list, Rafael Nadal. Some will wonder
why Novak Djokovic, with an annual income of 11 million pounds, even
bothers to slide out of bed in his Monaco apartment, while Andy Murray
is on the top-four minimum wage on 8.5 million pounds. Maria Sharapova,
the highest-earning female tennis player on an estimated 16 million
pounds, has spoken of having the money to feed her great-grandchildren,
but her commercial success is limited compared to Federer’s. And, for
Roger Inc, for Brand Federer, it hardly matters if he ever wins another
slam – this is the reward for all those years of sustained success, of
gathering a record 16 majors, and of having never come close to scandal
(look back at his career, and the greatest crime anyone has ever accused
him of, after he marked his fifteenth slam by wearing a tracksuit top
with ’15′ embroidered in gold on the back, was of looking as though he
had hired Liberace’s stylist). There are no cocktail waitresses, party
girls and fire-hydrants in this story.
“If a sportsman or woman develops a brand image over a long enough
period, it is possible to extend and even increase their earning power,”
Nigel Currie, of the sports marketing firm Brand Rapport, told The
Tennis Space. “Tennis is one of the few truly global sports and if you
become the number one player for a period of, say, five years, the
potential riches are enormous. As his powers on the court fade, he will
have more time to devote to developing his image and fulfilling
sponsors’ needs. Certainly Federer has developed a very good clean-cut
image which, combined with his enormous global profile, makes him highly
marketable.”
Federer’s contract with Nike is considered to be the most lucrative
sponsorship deal in tennis – he signed a 10-year extension in 2008, with
each year worth in excess of six million pounds. His other long-term
commercial relationships are with Credit Suisse, Jura, Lindt, National
Suisse, Net Jets, Rolex and Wilson. Federer’s name and face had been
used to sell Mercedes-Benz cars in China; that deal has now gone global.
And while Gillette ditched Tiger Woods and Thierry Henry, they have
retained Federer.
“His income has never been higher,” said Kurt
Badenhausen, a senior editor at Forbes. “Federer has incredibly broad
appeal on multiple continents in a sport with extremely strong
demographics. Many of his biggest endorsements are 10-year deals and he
has continued to add to his sponsorship portfolio even as he has fallen
from the top of the world rankings. I think Federer has a certain elder
statesman appeal now after being in the game for so long.”
Rene Stauffer, the tennis correspondent of Zurich’s Tages-Anzeiger,
argued that Federer’s break with IMG, around the time he won his first
slam at the 2003 Wimbledon Championships, has helped him in the long
term. “When Federer’s career took off in 2003, he was just ending his
contract with IMG. From 2004 to the fall of 2005 he had no big agency to
represent him, before he chose to work again with IMG. In this time he
had an in-house management team, built around his family. This was a
blessing in hindsight: in those years, when he started to dominate the
tour, he almost did not sign any contract – since he and his parents
always had the policy to have only few, but very good partners. And
then, when Tony Godsick and IMG took over again, his market value and
reputation was already that high, that they could basically choose their
partners and get huge contracts,” said Stauffer.
“And Federer only works with brands that are well chosen and mean
something to him. He has long-term-contracts with almost all his brands.
And Federer’s market value has grown with each successful partnership.
He has been linked with Nike and Wilson since the earliest days.
Gillette took his name into another sphere, as it was the first big,
international, non-tennis-related contract. Big Swiss companies also
soon discovered Roger’s value for them, and they build the biggest part
of his partners – with Rolex, Jura, National Suisse, Lindt and Credit
Suisse. The big Swiss bank also gives one million Swiss francs for the
Roger Federer Foundation, which has become much bigger through this
endorsement.”
And, as Stauffer noted, Federer “has never been hit by scandals – his image has been as steady as his career”.
thetennisspace.com
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