Olympic pole vaulter Eliza McCartney is a sponsor’s dream and reports this week suggest her medal-winning performance in Rio will translate into dollars.
The 19-year-old is already partnered with Nike and Anchor and that Olympic bronze has seen her marketing potential leap even higher.
No-one is brave enough to put a figure on what Eliza could earn through sponsorship but her agent Scott Newman has told the NZ Herald he’s already getting calls from companies interested in becoming possible sponsors.
Newman told Herald writer Holly Ryan, Eliza’s success will likely mean a continuation or expansion of current sponsorship deals, or additional sponsors – but only if they are a good fit.
“We always thought we would review [the partnerships] post Olympics and consider what the opportunities are ahead of there, but most likely we’ll take the same approach and keep a very core group of sponsors or stakeholders,” Newman said.
“It has to obviously fit with Eliza first and foremost. It has to be about her and somebody she’s really happy to partner with so that’s the starting point.”
McCartney has previously turned down sponsorships that she didn’t think were a good fit, but with her recent success there were likely to be more coming knocking.
Newman said it was hard to put a figure on McCartney’s marketing and sponsorship potential.
“It’s too early to say. It varies and it just comes back to the worth of the athlete in some ways and the value that the sponsor perceives and what it’s worth to them.”
Commercial sponsors are usually a combination of funding and product in exchange for appearances, advertising, product placement and social media reach – something Newman said was a growing factor.
“Social media is starting to come into it a lot more now so how many followers or Facebook likes do you have and that’s starting to become critical so that’s all about reach for the partner,” Newman said.
McCartney’s Facebook page has more than 23,000 likes and with more than 38,000 Instagram followers, The Herald said her growing profile and reach will be a bonus for sponsors.
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