Should the U.S. Women's Olympic Soccer Team repeat as
gold medalists in Sydney this month, Mia Hamm "could be
propelled into the sports marketing stratosphere," according
to USA TODAY's Bruce Horovitz. Currently, Hamm earns about
$2M per year in endorsement income from 15 companies, but
she has "no single sponsor paying her anything close to" $1M
annually. Hamm spoke "for the first time" about her
endorsement future with USA TODAY, and Horovitz writes that
while Hamm's "marketing strengths include an unusual appeal
not just to teens, but also to the affluent," her "most
glaring disadvantage may be playing for a sport that seems
to get less national TV time than skeet shooting." Sports
Business Group President David Carter: "It's amazing to me
that someone of Mia's caliber is still looking to establish
and maintain an image with marketers." Burns Sports
President Bob Williams adds, "There are a lot of wrong-
headed advertisers out there who still think a female
athlete can't carry a national ad campaign." While
SouthPeak Interactive will introduce next month two new
video games featuring Hamm, there are some sponsorship
categories "notably absent from her current list," including
automakers, computers/software and beauty products, despite
being named to People's 50 most beautiful list. Hamm's
N.Y.-based agent David Bober: "We don't plan her endorsement
life based on categories. She's with blue-chip companies
that will all be around for a while" (USA TODAY, 9/13).
ON THE MORNING SHOWS: Hamm was featured with other
members of the U.S. women's soccer team on both NBC's
"Today" and ABC's "Good Morning America." Hamm, on media
coverage of the team: "Considering the number of media
credentials that have been handed out, I think we had the
most media we've had all week yesterday at our practice --
and that was five" ("Today," NBC, 9/13).
