Andy Murray’s Wimbledon victory Sunday "will volley him into the elite league of global sporting superstars who earn tens of millions of pounds a year," according to Sam Marsden of the London TELEGRAPH. It "ended the 77-year wait for a homegrown hero to lift the silver trophy at SW19." One marketing analyst said that he could "become the third highest-earning British athlete of all time." Murray, 26, is already worth an estimated £32M ($48M), but his dramatic win against Novak Djokovic will enable him to make as much as £20M ($29.8M) a year from sponsorship deals, putting him behind only David Beckham and Lennox Lewis as the top-earning British sports stars in history. Winning Wimbledon earned the Scot £1.6M ($2.3M) in prize money, but "this will be dwarfed by the lucrative offers he will receive from sponsors." Sports marketing agency BrandRapport Dir Nigel Currie said Murray's Wimbledon win had shown he was “not a one-hit-wonder." Currie said, "With Roger Federer beginning to show his age and his form perhaps fading, and Rafael Nadal with injury worries, it could mean that Murray and Novak Djokovic will be the main two for the next few years" (TELEGRAPH, 7/7).
ADIDAS RENEWAL: Also in London, Simon Hart reported there are "already signs of a step-change in earning potential." An insider in Murray’s camp revealed that "negotiations have begun" with adidas about renewing his five-year, £15M ($21M) deal, which expires at the end of '14. His new contract "is likely to make him a global brand ambassador," joining an elite band that includes Beckham, Lionel Messi and NBA player Derrick Rose. Pitch PR CEO Henry Chappell believes that the exposure Murray would receive from becoming a global adidas ambassador "would open the door to other big-money contracts." Chappell said, "That deal alone would probably do more to promote his brand globally than winning Wimbledon because you’re suddenly on billboards and shop fronts everywhere, and adidas will do that because they will believe that he is not just a one-hit wonder but is going to win majors in years to come" (TELEGRAPH, 7/6).
