Asia's highest-ranked tennis player Kei Nishikori renewed "his endorsement deal with Fast Retailing Co's Uniqlo clothing brand," according to Dave McCombs of BLOOMBERG. The deal "may exceed" $10M a year, according to a person familiar with the agreement. The 26-year-old Japanese made history in the 2014 U.S. Open by becoming "the first Asia-born man to reach the finals of a Grand Slam tournament." Nishikori’s success "vaulted him to fame and helped him win endorsements from the likes of Jaguar, TAG Heuer and Japanese construction materials maker Lixil Group Corp., a sponsor of the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo." Nishikori's agent Olivier van Lindonk declined to comment on the terms of the agreement with Uniqlo, which initially named Nishikori a "global brand ambassador" in '11. Van Lindonk said, "Companies are looking for the next generation of champions. With Tokyo 2020 only four years away, this created an interesting dynamic with the clothing companies looking for an Asian star." Japan's richest person and Uniqlo Founder Tadashi Yanai "has expanded Uniqlo's sponsorship of athletes." Yanai has said that "he expects growth to come from outside Japan as the casual clothing brand opens flagship Uniqlo stores" in cities including Paris, N.Y. and Shanghai, among 414 stores in China, its "biggest overseas market." Bloomberg Intelligence Consumer Analyst Thomas Jastrzab said, "Celebrity endorsers help to raise the profile of Uniqlo abroad. This will become more important as Fast Retailing further ramps up expansion in countries where Uniqlo is less well-known than rivals such as H&M and Zara” (BLOOMBERG, 1/7). CITY AM's Joe Hall reported Nishikori's endorsements earned him $15M "last year according to Forbes" (CITY AM, 1/8).
