Under a five-year, $40M endorsement deal formally
announced yesterday, Venus Williams will be featured in
Reebok's new Defy Conventions ad campaign, which will debut
after CBS' broadcast of Super Bowl XXXV on the first episode
of "Survivor II," according to Richard Sandomir of the N.Y.
TIMES, who writes that Reebok's "plan is to make [Williams]
its leading athlete on a shrunken roster of athletic
endorsers." Williams' Reebok deal "dwarfs" adidas' $3M per
year deal with Anna Kournikova and a "similar contract"
Samsung has with golfer Se Ri Pak, which Burns Sports
President Bob Williams called the "richest deals among women
until now." Williams: "It's the first time an advertiser
felt that it had to pay top dollar for a female athlete.
This is more of a sponsorship than an endorsement" (N.Y.
TIMES, 12/22). Also in N.Y., Kristie Ackert writes that the
Defy Convention campaign will promote Williams "not only as
an athlete, but as a cultural and generational icon, similar
to the way Nike helped make golfer Tiger Woods into an
international star." Williams will also "co-design a new
Reebok collection," scheduled for a '02 debut, that will
include both tennis apparel and "urban wear" (N.Y. DAILY
NEWS, 12/22). Venus' father, Richard, said that the deal is
"actually a three-year arrangement with a two-year extension
that could provide even more money if Venus reaches certain
incentive clauses" (WASHINGTON POST, 12/22).
KEY RICHARD: Williams' attorney Keven Davis said that
Richard was the "key influencer in the room with Reebok CEO
Paul Fireman at the final negotiations" for the deal
(ESPN.com, 12/21). Richard Williams, on the negotiations:
"It took me awhile to convince them to go into grounds where
they had never been before. It was most difficult. I told
Mr. Paul Fireman that it would be a win-win situation. ...
Everyone is going to get their money's worth" (USA TODAY,
12/22). But in NJ, Matthew Futterman writes that the deal
is "not without risks," as Venus has "made her mark as a
brash athlete who isn't afraid to raise the sensitive issue
of race and voice her complaints about a sport that has
always been dominated by the country club set." But some
sports marketing "experts" said that the deal was a "savvy
move at a time when the audience for women's sports ... is
growing far more quickly [than] the audience for men's
sports" (Newark STAR-LEDGER, 12/22).
HEADLINE GRABBER: CBS' Dan Rather said, "Sports news
makes the front page [with] a new record for tennis star
Venus Williams" ("CBS Evening News," CBS, 12/21). ABC's
Peter Jennings also reported on the deal ("World News
Tonight," ABC, 12/21). CNBC's Ted David: "For $20 million a
year, I'd anchor every show on the air here with those shoes
on, not a problem" ("The Edge," CNBC, 12/21). On his
WinStar Radio segment this morning, Keith Olbermann said
NBC's Katie Couric and Venus Williams "spent much of" their
interview on the "Today" show yesterday (see THE DAILY,
12/21) "discussing the mechanics of just when and how Venus
decided to leverage her renewal [of] her endorsement deal
with [Reebok]. And throw in all news organizations that
treated the deal like the unveiling of the new Attorney
General. When exactly did that become news and when exactly
did we stop asking our morning hosts to know the difference
between news and free commercials?" (WinStar Radio, 12/22).