Naomi Osaka in line for record adidas sponsorship deal
THERE’LL be no more tears for Naomi Osaka with the US Open champion set to join Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova on a record sponsorship deal.
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US Open champion Naomi Osaka is reportedly set to sign one of the richest sponsorship deals in women’s sport.
Apparel giant adidas is set to break the bank to re-sign its rising star on a deal worth more than $14 million ($US10m) per year.
Osaka’s agent Stuart Duguid has told The Times, Osaka’s apparel sponsorship deal expires at the end of 2018 and adidas is moving quickly to hold onto the 20-year-old.
The monster deal would see Osaka rocket up the list of highest-earning female athletes on the planet. Her potential new sponsorship deal and US Open champion prize money of $5.3 million ($US3.8m) would see Osaka jump Caroline Wozniacki into second spot on the 2018 Forbes’ list of highest paid female athletes.
The monster adidas deal is reportedly the third richest sponsorship deal in women’s tennis and the richest adidas has ever handed to a female tennis player.
Nike eventually stuck with Maria Sharapova during her drugs ban on a deal reportedly worth $US12.5 million per year.
Serena William’s current Nike deal has never been made public, but Forbes estimates the 23-time grand slam champion earned more than $US18million in sponsorships alone during her year away from the game following the birth of her daughter Olympia.
Osaka’s deal is still well short of the blockbuster sponsorship deal Japanese star Kei Nishikori signed with Uniqlo recently — reportedly worth nearly $US20 million per year, dwarfing even Novak Djokovic’s Uniqlo deal because of Nishikori’s popularity in the Japanese market.
However, Daguid has said recently Osaka’s roots in Japan, Haiti and the United States makes her incredibly desirable for apparel companies.
“Her brand value for Adidas is in the millions now,” sports marketing consultant Joe Favorito told The New York Post.
What’s more, other major brands from financial service firms to beverage and watch companies will be beating down the door to Osaka’s agent Duguid.
Her win in Flushing Meadows “happened in front of major brand decision makers, because they were physically in the building,” Favorito said.
“The fact that she succeeded in New York gives her another one-up.”
Born in Japan to a Japanese mother and a Haitian father, Osaka was raised in the US but played for Japan, which will likely result in even richer endorsement deals surrounding the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo.
Her current endorsement deals include Japanese sporting goods manufacturer, Yonex, Japanese food company, Nissin and the Japanese equivalent of HBO, Wowow.
The potential car endorsement is likely Toyota because the company is the worldwide Olympic sponsor, said Scott Kirkpatrick, founding partner of Chicago Sports & Entertainment.
Originally published as Naomi Osaka in line for record adidas sponsorship deal