The future commercial viability of Lionel Messi "is under threat after he, along with his father, were handed a 21-month prison sentence as a long-winded Spanish tax fraud case comes to a close," according to John McCarthy of THE DRUM.
The decision "could threaten both the Argentinian’s value to sponsors and force more skittish brands dissociate themselves from the partnership." Of relief to the sentenced, Barcelona and sponsors "is the fact that Spanish law permits sentences of under two years to be served outside of prison under a probation period." The ruling "could impact the player’s brand value," which plummeted out of the top 10 athletes in Forbes' annual ranking last year. His brand was worth £7.8M in '14, well behind that of his rival in the world’s best player debate, Cristiano Ronaldo (£10.4M), who "is the most valuable athlete in the world." Gillette "was the first brand to respond." A spokesperson offered no further comment than it has "no additional information other than that already in the public domain and it would be inappropriate for us to comment further at this time." Adidas said, "Adidas is aware of the verdict in Spain today. Leo remains a very important global ambassador for adidas and we will not be commenting further at this stage" (THE DRUM, 7/6).
FAN SURVEY: PR WEEK'S Omar Oakes wrote nearly two-thirds of sports fans think adidas "should reconsider its sponsorship arrangements" with Messi, a snap poll has found following the global football star's conviction for tax fraud. In a survey of 1,000 British people by the OnePulse mobile app, 65% said that "they believe Adidas should reconsider Messi’s sponsorship." Just under half of those surveyed (49%) think adidas "should shorten the length of any existing sponsorship deal, while 16% think the brand should terminate the agreement altogether." Opinion "was split over whether the footballer should be allowed to continue playing while serving his probation, with 49% saying he should not and 36% saying he should" (PR WEEK, 7/6).
