Tennis players, led by Roger Federer, are the most marketable sports stars in the world, according to the London School of Marketing.
In a newly-compiled list, it finds that out of the top 20 most marketable players, six of them are tennis players. Only two women make the grade – again, tennis players – in the shape of Maria Sharapova at 12 and Serena Williams at 20.
No Australian sports stars make the top 20.
The list calculates the brand value of sporting stars by gauging their sponsors and advertising income as a percentage of their total earnings, as well as their social media reach.
London School of Marketing faculty member Jacques de Cock told reporters: “There are four main reasons why brands want to be associated with sports stars and the first explains why the list is almost exclusively male; it enables marketers to advertise to the traditionally hard to reach 16 – 30 year old male bracket. Sport is the obvious way to do this due to the ‘hero’ status of many sportsmen.
“Sports stars are also brilliant vessels for increasing brand awareness purely down to the sheer volume of people who watch sport.
“Finally sports stars can boost a brand’s equity. The values attributed to sportsmen (honesty, hard work, dedication, skill, etc.) can be of significant value to brands that are not naturally associated with this, for instance, banking, insurance and utilities.”
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Top 20 Most Marketable Sports Stars
1. Roger Federer – Tennis
2. Tiger Woods – Golf
3. Phil Mickelson – Golf
4. LeBron James – Basketball
5. Kevin Durant – Basketball
6. Rory McIlroy – Golf
7. Novak Djokovic – Tennis
8. Rafael Nadal – Tennis
9. Mahendra Singh Dhoni – Cricket
10. Cristiano Ronaldo – Football
11. Kobe Bryant – Basketball
12. Maria Sharapova – Tennis
13. Lionel Messi – Football
14. Usain Bolt – Track
15. Neymar – Football
16. Andy Murray – Tennis
17. Kei Nishikori – Tennis
18. Derrick Rose – Basketball
19. Floyd Mayweather – Boxing
20. Serena Williams - Tennis
Did you catch this earlier this year? Most shared tennis ads - sports stars not needed
Email Nicola at nicolariches@yaffa.com.au.