The challenge for MLB players to "align with major players in corporate America" has made it "easier to become an All-Star pitcher than an All-Star pitchman," according to Teddy Greenstein of the CHICAGO TRIBUNE, who examines the marketability of rookie Cubs 3B Kris Bryant. SportsCorp President Marc Ganis said of Bryant, "He has great potential. But there are a lot of 'ifs.'" Bryant said, "Baseball is harder because the stuff they sell is not as marketable as, say, a pair of basketball shoes. You can actually wear those on the street. You can't wear a pair of metal cleats walking around the mall." Greenstein noted even though Bryant "plays in the nation's third-largest media market, sports-marketing analysts view baseball as a largely regional sport." Bryant recently "appeared in a two-minute ad for Lyft, an Uber competitor." Wearing shades and a casual gray dress shirt, he "chauffeured unwitting passengers around Chicago, talking baseball and joking that it's 'terrible' that the Cubs didn't have a Bryant poster attached to Wrigley Field." Chicago-based Engage Marketing President & Chief Engagement Officer Kevin Adler said, "Very few baseball players are able to transcend their geography. Plus baseball skews a little older in terms of its fan base. The older demographic is valuable, but everyone wants the 18-34." Bryant's agent, Scott Boras, said of the challenges presented to baseball players compared to athletes in other sports for endorsing products, "The difference is the 162 (games). A lot of players are worn out. ... Kris Bryant needs time to rest. The amount of endorsement work he'll be doing will be limited" (CHICAGO TRIBUNE, 11/15).
