While sports-apparel firms mainly pay top-ranked men tennis
players "big bucks for hawking their wares," a few women stars
also receive hefty endorsement deals, according to USA TODAY.
Co-No. 1's Steffi Graf and Monica Seles, along with No. 8
Gabriella Sabatini, have multi-year, multi-million deals. Graf
endorses adidas, Seles Nike, and Sabatini Fila. However, their
deals are "substantially" less than the $20M-plus Pete Sampras
and Andre Agassi get from Nike. No. 6 Chanda Rubin looks to move
to the "top shelf of women endorsers" when her current renewal
talks with Reebok are complete. But, some say Reebok's signing
of 15-year-old Venus Williams may cause Rubin's deal to be "less
generous." Advantage's Phil de Picciotto, on Graf: "Because
she's been with only adidas since 1984, she has great credibility
in the marketplace." Nike's Robin Carr-Locke says Seles will
soon get her own shoe line -- "Air Haze." Sabatini's agent,
ProServ's Dick Dell, says her name is on three of the best
selling perfumes in Europe and that Fila plans a new ad (Doug
Smith, USA TODAY, 5/7).
