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NIKE QUICK TO CAPITALIZE ON FREEMAN; WILL OTHERS FOLLOW?

          Australian runner Cathy Freeman is "expected to pocket
     more than" US$220,000 in "special one-off payments from her
     sponsors as well as boost her earning power" from $550,000 a
     year to ten times that "over the next three years" following
     her performance in Sydney, according to Andrew Hornery of
     the SYDNEY MORNING HERALD.  Nike was "capitalising on
     Freeman's success just hours after her win" on Monday in the
     400 meters by placing new billboards around the city
     featuring Freeman in her Nike Swift suit.  While some sports
     marketing execs feel that Freeman was not as marketable as
     swimmer Ian Thorpe "because she lacked Thorpe's confidence
     in the public eye and eloquence," others said that her
     "uniqueness and naturalness were far worthier qualities"
     (SYDNEY MORNING HERALD, 9/27).  One sports marketing analyst
     put Freeman's "potential contract earnings with Nike" at $2-
     5M per year (Sydney DAILY TELEGRAPH, 9/27).
          NOT TOO SEXY? In Toronto, Chris Atchison writes that
     "attempts to make" Thorpe Australia's "new sex symbol are
     meeting with opposition -- especially from the opposite
     sex."  Julie Warren, a Sydney-area personal trainer, said of
     Thorpe, "I don't really think he's good looking.  He has a
     big nose and big feet -- like flippers."  Fifteen-year-old
     Jackie McEwan: "He's definitely not good looking.  He's not
     unattractive, but he's not great" (TORONTO STAR, 9/27).
          WHOSE STAR WILL SHINE? USA TODAY's Becky Yerak cites
     some marketing execs as saying that the Sydney Olympics are
     "shaping up to be one of the more forgettable Games for
     corporations looking for fresh faces to pitch products and
     services."  But SFX Sports Marketing Div. President Fred
     Fried, whose firm reps 32 Olympians, said that NBC's lower-
     than-expected ratings will not have as big an effect on
     endorsements as some have speculated: "These athletes are
     highly exposed.  You're still talking about prime-time
     ratings."  Meanwhile, Disson Furst's CEO Stephen Disson
     "worries" that Marion Jones will be "tainted by her
     husband's alleged steroid use."  While some think the fact
     that most of swimmer Jenny Thompson's Gold medals have come
     in team events "limits her potential," Disson disagrees:
     "She's so decorated that she'll be appealing" (USA TODAY,
     9/27).  SFX Sports Group's Ivan Blumberg, on Jones: "If she
     sets the goal for herself [of five Gold medals] and then
     accomplishes it, at the same time sort of standing by her
     husband, avoiding the distraction, I think she'll come out
     as a real hero and a role model" (NBC, 9/27).  U.S. Gold
     medal swimmer Tom Malchow, on the impact of a positive drug
     test on endorsement potential: "There's definitely some bad
     examples out there -- people who screwed up, and sponsors go
     running for the hills.  You're not going to make a dollar
     that way, and I hope you don't" ("The Early Show," CBS,
     9/27)....In Orlando, Bill Buchalter writes that U.S.
     softball player and surgeon Dot Richardson "finds that she
     is in demand as a motivational speaker, an endorsement
     pitch-person, and a spokesperson on two Internet sites." 
     Richardson's CA-based agent Tom McCarthy: "Dot's still a hot
     commodity. ... [But her] biggest dream is her aspiration to
     open the Dot Richardson Medical Center.  This is a viable
     project whether it's [L.A.] or Orlando" (ORLANDO SENTINEL,
     9/27)....In Sydney, Geoff McClure profiles the marketability
     of Russian-born Australian Silver medal pole vaulter Tatiana
     Grigorieva, who is "blonde, pretty and has long, slim legs." 
     Agent Rick Carter said of his client, "I honestly believe
     that if you combine her competition, endorsements and
     modeling work she could soon be earning [US$275,000-550,000]
     a year."  McClure notes that Grigorieva's current salary is
     about $27,500 annually (SYDNEY MORNING HERALD, 9/27).
          ARE TOP DEALS UNDER-PRICED? In N.Y., Richard Sandomir
     writes that TOP sponsors at Olympic Park are "visible, but
     not overwhelming," and the "impact is more tasteful than
     grotesque."  Meanwhile, IOC VP Dick Pound said the estimated
     $55M TOP sponsorship is the "most under priced marketing
     program in the world.  We remind the sponsors of that very
     often."  The new TOP deals will cost $65M for the 2002 and
     2004 Games (N.Y. TIMES, 9/27).  McDonald's Chair & CEO Jack
     Greenberg, on being a member of the IOC's TOP program: "We
     think it builds the brand and builds our relationship with
     customers.  To try and do a financial analysis of it is
     impossible, but we really think it's important to our
     customers and it's one of those things that makes McDonald's
     unique in our industry" (CNBC, 9/26)....USA TODAY's Baer &
     Shriver report that Barbie Dolls are "among the hottest
     items at Sydney 2000 Olympic stores" (USA TODAY, 9/27).     
     

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