A melted-down Olympic gold medal is worth a measly $200, but athletes can turn success at the Olympics into a tidy retirement fund if they learn to harness the power of endorsement.
While Canadian Olympic rower Marnie McBean won back-to-back golds at the Barcelona and Atlanta Summer Games, her medals didn't secure her financial future. Rather, it was a spot in a Pert Plus hair care commercial that padded her wallet and made her more recognizable to the average Canadian.
After retiring from completive rowing, McBean added motivational speaker and Team Canada mentor to her resume.
McBean told Canada AM on Tuesday that winning a gold medal doesn't secure the funds necessary to stay competitive in Canada.
"There's no such thing as a post-Olympic budget for sponsors out there, so unless you have endorsements coming into a Games, the million dollars isn't going to show up," she said.
It's up to athletes to make themselves more marketable, she said.
"It's not the Olympic success that makes or breaks a professional career. It's something I've worked pretty hard at," McBean said. "I've been really lucky. I like to speak."
McBean pointed to the Canadian men's eights rowing team in Beijing as an example of the financial ups and downs Canadian athletes often experience. The team won in the neighbourhood of $270,000 in bonuses from their corporate sponsors for their gold medal performance in Beijing.
"That will probably cover their debt and it's certainly not going to put them into the money," McBean said.
Business analyst Vimal Kotecha agreed with McBean during an appearance on Canada AM on Tuesday. He said podium finishes are only one piece of the funding puzzle for athletes in Canada.
Kotecha, director of business valuation firm LECG Canada, said an athlete can "do very well for themselves" if the timing is right. He said the state of the economy effects how much companies are willing to invest in sports. Athletes with longevity, who compete in a popular sport and are well-liked by the public are in a better position to capitalize on lucrative sponsorship opportunities.
Here's some factors that Kotecha said determine an athlete's shot at an endorsement deal:
- Economic cycle: A gold medal may be worth less today than four years ago as companies feel the impact of a looming recession and look for ways to cut back on spending.
- Longevity: Staying power as a medal contender drastically improves an athlete's chances at landing a contract. Just like the window of time during which athletes peak, they have a limited amount of time to be a public darling.
- Career history: Recent performances and world ranking prior to the Olympics play a large role in a brand's ability to peg future champions.
- Popularity of the sport: The more popular a sport among viewers or target audience, the more opportunities an athlete has for endorsement.
- Personal brand: An athlete's marketability in terms of how well they connect with the public can be a deal-clencher for advertisers.
In the 1970s, U.S. track and field star Bruce Jenner became synonymous with Wheaties cereal and continued to earn millions as motivational speaker, sports commentator and spokesperson for brands such as Coca Cola and Visa. Italian alpine racer Alberto Tomba, who became an international sex symbol in the 1990s, sported skis exclusively for Rossignol.
The best example of an Olympian who has maximized his earning potential in recent years could very well be U.S. swimmer Michael Phelps. He brings in an estimated $5 million a year from deals with well-known brands Speedo, Visa and Kellogg's.
In an effort to keep Canadian athletes motivated, the Canadian Olympic Committee announced in 2007 that any athlete who wins a gold medal at any Olympics will be given $20,000 in prize money. A silver medal earns $15,000 and a bronze wins $10,000 -- peanuts when compared to what a shoe contract can earn.
In countries such as Britain and Germany, athletes rely heavily on constant stream of revenue from national lotteries to fund their training. In developing countries, athletes get a cut of US$244 million from the Olympic Solidarity fund which distributes earnings from the sales of Olympic broadcast rights to struggling athletes. In the U.S., corporate sponsors have a reputation of being more generous when picking up the slack left by the United States Olympic Committee and Washington.
Canada has fallen so far behind summer powerhouse countries such as China, the U.S., and Australia that cracking the top five by 2012 looks almost impossible unless Canada starts closing the gap with the massive investments made by thos countries. After a disappointing showing in Montreal back in 1976, Australia has put about $250 million annually into summer sports.
"Don't do it for the money," McBean advised Canadian athletes going for gold. "It's not a career. It's not something that's going to be there four years from now," she said.
