Yankees RF Aaron Judge has had a "meteoric rise into the national sports consciousness, and with it a burgeoning, downright Jeter-ian level of marketability," according to Neil Best of NEWSDAY. The most recent examples are his two new "This is SportsCenter" ads. ESPN VP/Marketing Solutions Carrie Brzezinski said that using Judge "was an easy decision, given the player, the person, the team, and the time of year." Brzezinski: "When we went to the white board, he was one of the first athletes we wrote down." Best noted Judge was "quiet" on the marketing front last season, partly because he "wanted to focus on fully establishing himself" during his rookie season. Judge's first big deal came in November, when he signed with Pepsi. PepsiCo Senior Dir of Sports Marketing Justin Toman said, "We're going to be using him across the full spectrum: TV, radio, out-of-home in New York, social media, and of course a really big Pepsi retail program, including packaging, in the New York area." Best noted Judge fans should "look for him not only in ads, but on products themselves, including Pepsi, Pepsi Zero Sugar and Diet Pepsi." Judge also added Adidas last week. Adidas Head of U.S. Team Sports Jeff McGillis said that the company "plans to collaborate" with Judge on "product designs, among other things." Judge was also named cover athlete for Sony's "MLB: The Show 18" video game. Panini has had a trading card deal with Judge, and during and after his breakout '17 season, the company saw his cards "command eye-popping prices on the resale market" (NEWSDAY, 4/1).
