Advertisers Left With Void to Fill

By Steve Springer

July 15, 2004 12 AM PT

Times Staff Writer

For sale: one life-size bobble-head figure of Shaquille O’Neal.

For sale: 33 billboards featuring the logo of XTRA Radio next to the looming face of O’Neal, proclaiming, “My city. My station.”

For sale: advertising space on the side of a Team L.A. store at Universal CityWalk, where there is currently a 40-foot neon likeness of O’Neal.

That giant sucking sound reverberating through Los Angeles on Wednesday was not only the vacuum created by the gaping hole left on the Laker roster after O’Neal was traded to the Miami Heat. It was also the vacuum being created in the advertising industry all over town. O’Neal was a huge presence, larger than any Dodger, Angel or any other local athlete. Certainly larger than Kobe Bryant, whose advertising opportunities have been in limbo while he awaits trial on charges of sexual assault.

O’Neal has been a purple-and-gold mine. Representing such major companies as Microsoft and Radio Shack, O’Neal makes about $12 million a year in endorsements. There were two other life-size O’Neal figures sold, each going for $25,000.

“The question,” said Staples Center official Michael Roth, “is whether the remaining bobble-head should be priced higher or lower.”

Either way, any future merchandise linking O’Neal and the Lakers will be strictly collectors’ items.

“Unfortunately, a radio station is just like a city and just like its fans,” said Don Martin, XTRA’s program director. “When you team up with stars, the one thing you can be sure is imminent is their departure. You roll the dice with athletes. When we signed up with Shaq, did we expect him to be traded? No way, but we have to live and die with these guys.

“We had a great association with Shaq. He was awesome with us, really into the billboard campaign. He even helped to pick the picture we used. Now, we look forward to an association with another big-name athlete.”

Might that athlete be Bryant if he remains a Laker, despite his damaged image?

“If Kobe is exonerated, if things go the right way for him,” Martin said, “yes, we’d like to have an association with him.”

How much value will the Lakers lose by cutting their association with O’Neal?

“Anybody who buys a team has to look at it as a long-term investment,” said Andrew Zimbalist, an economist at Smith College in Massachusetts. “If you’re investing in a basketball team worth $400 million, $500 million, $600 million -- I figure the Lakers somewhere in that range -- and you have any brains at all, you’re looking out 10, 20, 30 years from now. You’re looking at the health of the NBA.

“So, yes, the loss of Shaq will certainly hurt [owner] Jerry Buss and the Lakers over the short term. Shaq is a charismatic figure whose loss will be felt for the next three or four years. But it’s hard to say he’ll have much of an impact beyond that. And again, if you’re a long-term investor, you can’t worry about a great deal about the short term.”

O’Neal, of course, has to worry about the short term. At 32, he might be productive for three or four more seasons. O’Neal’s agent, Perry Rogers, promises that they will be productive years off the court as well.

“His endorsements will increase in Miami, for sure,” Rogers said.

There was plenty of doubt in Zimbalist’s mind 12 years ago when O’Neal first joined the NBA as a member of the Orlando Magic.

“Shaq has matured a great deal as a media personality,” Zimbalist said. “He had all sorts of rough edges when he came into the NBA. He hadn’t cultivated a media presence. Now he’s much more accessible, has a personality people can relate to and, as a result, he’s one of the top players in terms of endorsements.

“Still, in an area like Los Angeles, you’re always going to have more impact because there’s more population, because there are more large corporations and because it’s a higher-income market. But I think he can still have a large impact in Miami.”

O’Neal, having declared himself “a Miami Heatian,” already has.

On Tuesday night, even before the trade became official, the Heat office was so flooded with ticket requests for next season that extra telephone lines had to be installed.

A South Beach nightspot named Prive has announced that one of its tables will be permanently reserved for O’Neal.

Today or Friday, the NBA will come out with replicas of O’Neal’s new Heat jersey. The team was on one national telecast last season.

“I have a hunch that we’ll be on a few more this season,” said Tim Donovan, the Heat’s vice president of media relations.

Miami Heatian. How would that look on a billboard?

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)

Top NBA Franchises

Top 10 NBA franchises in worth, according to Forbes (2003 in millions):

1. LAKERS ... $447

2. New York Knicks ... $401

3. Chicago Bulls ... $356

4. Dallas Mavericks ... $338

5. Philadelphia 76ers ... $328