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Marketing and Sponsorship

Rough Upbringing, Selective Eye For Sponsors Gives Bulls' Jimmy Butler Unique Opportunities

Endorsement offers "are rolling in" for Bulls G Jimmy Butler, who this past season won the NBA Most Improved Player Award and recently has "hawked brands such as Mountain Dew and True Religion jeans and appeared in ads for BMO Harris and the Illinois Lottery," according to Danny Ecker of CRAIN'S CHICAGO BUSINESS. Experts "peg Butler's current annual endorsement income in the mid-six figures." But Butler's agent, Relativity Sports CEO Happy Walters, said that the number of inquiries from companies "has doubled since January." Future deals "are in a holding pattern" until Butler decides where he will play next season. Out of "personal preference, he opted to drop Adidas as his official apparel brand in favor of Nike's Jordan brand last year." Walters said that the decision resulted in a 75% "pay cut." Walters: "A lot of guys get in the NBA and want to do everything that comes by because they want to see their faces somewhere. Jimmy has been really patient.” Ecker wrote Butler "remains a regional star, relevant only to Chicagoans." Butler was "homeless for a time," and his back story has "made him appealing for brands wanting to reach at-risk youth." Kellogg Senior Dir of Marketing Jeremy Harper said that Butler's “'great reputation on and off the court' as well as his 'humble upbringing and commitment to helping provide resources to children in need' led the company to make him a headliner of a 'national breakfast week' promotion." Ecker wrote Butler has "steadily built a social media persona." Butler "counts more than 364,000 Instagram followers," up 60% since the start of '15, placing him "in the top 40 among 322 NBA players with active accounts." It reportedly costs marketers $10,000 to "get a shoutout" from Butler on Instagram. But Walters said that he is "unaware of any such formal deals" (CHICAGOBUSINESS.com, 5/23).

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