Jarryd Hayne could have once been the face of major Australian brands

At one stage he had his own clothing range and if Jarryd Hayne had succeeded in the United States, he could have been the face of some of Australia’s biggest companies. BONUS HAYNE PODCAST.

It was once the most popular jersey on NFL.com. Today however, you can buy Jarryd Hayne’s San Francisco 49ers jumper for $39.99 on eBay. Once worth a staggering $1700 signed, the demand for Hayne’s famed No.38 — not to mention trading cards, signed footballs, all of it — has come to a sudden, and likely final, halt.
As the greatest Australian sports story of 2015, Hayne’s jersey quickly became the most popular selling top for the NFL online store.
For clarity, more sports fans were chasing down the No.38 than even those worn by legendary New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady.

Soon after, the Minto Housing Commission product also went and joined the likes of US megastars Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods, even Floyd ‘Money’ Mayweather by launching his own signature clothing range — complete with that logo designed around his initials and the Fijian falcon.

The Hayne No.38 was outselling Tom Brady’s jumper. Picture: Nick Walshaw

Hayne even developed his own signature range. Source: Instagram @jarrydhayne38

“The Fijian falcon is extremely rare,’’ Hayne told The Daily Telegraph in December of that year. “It’s also said to be the fastest bird anywhere in the world. “I want people to look at this design and see me, see my journey.“

Indeed, so big was Hayne becoming everyone wanted in. Not only sports fans, but a host bogus memorabilia types who began flooding the Australian market with rip off gear and fake ‘signed’ pieces.
Hayne was the nation’s new Money Man.

PODCAST BONUS: THE RISE AND FALL OF JARRYD HAYNE

An NFL rookie who experts like US sports marketer Bob Dorfman predicted Hayne could break $12 million in endorsements over three years. Apart from becoming the face of “energy drinks and sports cars”, Mr Dorfman said Hayne could eventually spruik Australian companies like Qantas, Fosters and Outback Steakhouse to the US market.
Even after returning to the NRL in 2016, Hayne remained linked to dollar signs.
During his first days with Gold Coast Titans, then CEO Graham Annesly estimated the club’s newest marquee man would generate a staggering $500,000 for each of their remaining home games.

Merchandise was also being tipped to break the magic million mark. Elsewhere, and over just five games that year, NRL marketing types believed Hayne would sell an extra 60,000 tickets, for an estimated profit of $1.2 million.
The TAB were also predicting NRL pools to increase by 40 per cent, such was the interest around the returning NSW Origin star, while rival Sydney NRL clubs were banking on receiving an extra $100,000 from games and, for State of Origin, an extra $250,000 in ticket sales. But not anymore.

With today, you can grab No.38 for roughly as many dollars on eBay.