Andy Murray's recent success "hasn’t improved his consumer appeal in America" as global endorsement contracts "are yet to follow his on-court wins," according to Eben Novy-Williams of BLOOMBERG. As Murray begins his U.S. Open title defense in N.Y. this week, he "lacks the allure of Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic." Dallas-based sports marketing group The Marketing Arm Senior Dir Darin David said, "Andy Murray had to fight really hard to catch up with the Big Three on the court, and now he has to fight to match up with them in the eyes of fans. He’s now a multiple Grand Slam winner, so maybe he’ll start making inroads, but it’s a tough hill to climb." Murray’s endorsement portfolio "is almost unchanged since he won Wimbledon last month." His contracts with adidas, Royal Bank of Scotland, racket supplier Head and watch manufacturer Rado Uhren "earn him roughly" $12M annually, according to BrandRapport sports marketing exec Nigel Currie. Last week, Murray "signed an endorsement deal with Fuse Science." Financial details "weren't released." Q Scores Exec VP Henry Schafer said that the awareness of Murray among U.S. consumers following his Wimbledon win grew to 20% from 17% earlier this year. That trails Federer (38%) and Nadal (26%), as well as U.S. champions Serena Williams (67%) and Andre Agassi, who is known by 53% of U.S. consumers "seven years after retiring from tennis." Currie said that if Murray continues his current trajectory, the endorsement opportunities "will grow." He said that the dominant player in a global sport such as tennis "can expect to make" about $75M annually in endorsement deals. Currie said, "Companies were waiting to see if he could crack it, and he has now. He’s in a good position to build on that further, and if he gets to the point where he’s won four or five Grand Slams, then you start talking about an all-time great and one of the sport’s top earners" (BLOOMBERG, 8/23).
