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Marketing and Sponsorship

Cubs Star Players Rank Among Most Marketable Athletes In All Of Sports

Cubs 1B Anthony Rizzo and 3B Kris Bryant are "primed to cash in on their soaring profiles" as they are "firmly on the short list of baseball's most marketable names and faces," according to sources cited by Danny Ecker of CRAIN'S CHICAGO BUSINESS. The 24-year-old Bryant had the "highest Q Score of all active MLB players this year" and Rizzo, 27, was "close behind in sixth." Their popularity also is "reflected in MLB jersey sales," where Bryant, Rizzo and Cubs P Jake Arrieta all ranked in the top 10 on MLBShop.com during the first half of the year. Bryant also supplanted Warriors G Stephen Curry as the "national face of Express' men's clothing," while Rizzo got a "namesake cereal brand." Arrieta became a "pitchman for men's clothing brand Mizzen & Main and Saxx Underwear." Helping the growth in players' popularity is a "surge in players' social media audiences." Of the top 15 active Chicago athletes who have "gained the most Twitter followers in the past year, 10 are Cubs players." That second tier of "marketable Cubs is also an attractive option for brands that want to hop on the team's bandwagon at a cheaper price." Genesco Sports Enterprises Senior Dir Steven Koehnemann said, "They're going to be cost-effective. If they can give a brand what they're looking for in the Chicago marketplace, that could be an alternative to (Bryant and Rizzo)." Marketing Evaluations Exec VP Henry Schafer, whose company produces the Q Score, said, "It's rare that an active (MLB player) becomes the high-water mark for athletes. Baseball players tend to be, personality-wise, much more reserved and not as willing to market themselves" (CRAIN'S CHICAGO BUSINESS, 8/29 issue).

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