Most Olympians Unlikely to Find Madison Avenue Success

Figure skater Tara Lipinski might be the only U.S. Winter Olympian that will be able to turn her gold into coin on Madison Avenue, advertising analysts and executives said.

The 15-year-old Lipinski’s upset win to become the youngest figure skater ever to win an Olympic gold medal was a rare bright moment for the U.S. in a lackluster Winter Olympics. CBS struggled with the lowest television ratings in 30 years.

The low ratings and lack of attention generated by the Winter Olympics means most returning athletes will have memories -- not endorsement checks -- to show for their efforts in Nagano, Japan.

“The general apathy was surprising,” said Fred Fried, executive vice president of Integrated Sports International, a sports marketing firm that represents athletes. “I don’t think there’s anyone in our business that wasn’t surprised by that.”

Lipinski likely will be the exception.

She already had an endorsement contract with Campbell Soup Co. before the Olympics and is adding to her portfolio.

Lipinski has signed contracts to endorse Mattel Inc.’s Olympic skating Barbie doll, a line of children’s active wear by Donna Karan International Inc. and General Motor Corp.’s Chevrolet division -- even though she isn’t old enough to drive.

“In addition to her athletic ability, her on-camera interviews showed remarkable poise and maturity for someone her age,” said Brian Murphy, publisher of the Sports Marketing Letter, a newsletter that tracks the industry.

She could earn $2 million to $3 million in endorsements this year, Murphy said.

“She has a wonderful voice and communications skills and is bubbling over with youthful enthusiasm,” Murphy said. “Those are very, very useful qualities that sponsors are eager to find.”

Lipinski’s gold medal could be worth as much as $20 million during her career with income from skating tours and endorsement contracts, said Bob Williams, president of Burns Sports, a company that arranges endorsement agreements for athletes.

“Product endorsements will provide a very handsome income for her over the next few years,” Williams said.

Even with plenty of endorsement offers from which to choose, Lipinski shares a risk encountered by most Olympic athletes --being pushed out of the limelight by athletes in other sports.

Ryan Schinman, executive vice president of marketing for Worldwide Entertainment & Sports Corp., also said Lipinski has a bright future for endorsements, although it’s far from a sure thing.

“Right now she’s hot,” Schinman said. “Who knows what the hot topic or the hot person will be a year from now.”

Now that the Olympics are over, most U.S. sports fans turn their attention back to more mainstream team sports, Schinman said.

With college basketball’s NCAA tournament, the start of baseball season and the National Basketball Association playoffs coming up during the next few months, most Olympic athletes will have a hard time finding endorsement offers.

“It’s a small window of opportunity for these people,” Schinman said. “There are so many sports and so many superstars out there, they should jump on the opportunities that present themselves.”

For the gold medal-winning women’s hockey team, it means the cover of a Wheaties box.

Picabo Street won a gold medal in the women’s Super G skiing competition, and could add to the five endorsement contracts she already had before the games.

Still, the big endorsement money will go to athletes whose sport is featured on television consistently.

“You won’t see a lot of skiing events or women’s hockey on television the next few months. It’s not there,” said Burns Sports’ Williams. “You simply don’t have the tremendous fan base and attendance that football, basketball and baseball have.”

While the endorsement outlooks for this year’s Olympic team is poor, it could be worse for the group heading to Salt Lake City in 2002.

The lower-than-expected television ratings might make companies shy away from Olympic athletes when looking for endorsers in the future, Williams said.

“There will be a chilling effect for future Olympic athletes,” Williams said. “This year’s ratings are going to make advertisers more cautious in terms of signing athletes.”

CBS suffered through the lowest ratings since the 1968 winter games in Grenoble, France. The network said the 1998 games were watched in 16.2 percent of homes with TV sets, well below the 19.6 it promised advertisers it would deliver.

“Advertisers are somewhat risk-averse,” Fried said. “Unless they really feel in their hearts they can have a slam-dunk success with a celebrity campaign, they aren’t going to embark on it.”