Tennis player Caroline Wozniacki has yet to win her first Grand Slam tournament, but she trails only Maria Sharapova and Serena Williams "in annual endorsement earnings among female athletes," according to Daniel Kaplan of SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL. Wozniacki in the last year has "added Godiva, Lavazza and Wheels Up and is renewing a major deal with Danish undergarment maker JBS." She is a "bigger corporate draw" than when she was the top-ranked female player earlier this decade, as she now pulls in $12-14M annually in endorsements and prize money. That is in the "neighborhood of what Williams earns, and about half of Sharapova." WheelsUp co-Founder Kenny Dichter said, "I don’t look at Grand Slams. She is operating at the top of her game, top level. You don’t have to win every time. The way she handles herself, the way she carries herself." Kaplan notes Wozniacki's ranking in the U.S. on Repucom’s DBI celebrity index "is higher today" than in '11 when she "last ended a season No. 1." Among female athletes, she "ranks behind only Williams, her sister Venus and Sharapova," and ahead of skier Lindsey Vonn and NASCAR driver Danica Patrick. Overseas her ranking "is higher." Signature Sports Dir of Strategic Development & Client Services James McCoy cited her social media followers overseas as a "big factor in his client, Head Trainer, signing her." The brain game app for athletes "launched in June and endorsers include" Seahawks CB Richard Sherman, Blue Jays RF Jose Bautista and NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. McCoy said that Wozniacki, who speaks six languages, "offered a platform no American athlete could." He added, "We have users in over 70 countries, so to have somebody with that kind of appeal, a top-ranked player, was huge" (SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL, 9/1 issue).
: USA TODAY's Nick McCarvel notes Wozniacki "has sponsor deals in the USA, Europe and Asia." Her agent, Lagardere's John Tobias, said that she "has international appeal," but he added that "it all stems" from the U.S. market. McCarvel notes Wozniacki's appearance in SI's swimsuit issue "helped, as well as trips to events such as the ESPYs and a friendship" with Taylor Swift. Tobias said, "She wants to take advantage of this part of her life. She knows it’s going to go by fast." McCarvel writes the Danish-born Wozniacki in many ways has filled the role of "breakthrough American female tennis star" within the last decade (
USA TODAY, 9/2).
