Sharapova’s marketability takes direct hit
Nike, Porsche, Tag-Heuer suspend endorsement deals because of positive test
Within hours of tennis star Maria Sharapova’s revelation she had flunked a drug test at the Australian Open, her closest corporate partners began keeping their distance.
Nike suspended its endorsement deal, as did Porsche. Watch maker Tag-Heuer announced it wouldn’t renew a recently-lapsed contract with Sharapova.
The WTA’s seventh-ranked tennis player might not need the money — Forbes estimates the 28-year-old has earned $285 million (U.S.) in her career — but the symbolism of lost sponsorships is critical.
Sharapova finished fifth on last year’s WTA money list but was the world’s highest-earning female athlete thanks to a raft of sponsorships. According to Forbes, Sharapova made $23 million in endorsements in 2015 compared with $13 million for top-ranked Serena Williams.
Sharapova says she never intended to break the rules, maintaining she never noticed a drug that had been part of her health regimen for a decade was ruled out of bounds Jan 1. Experts say Sharapova’s ability to restore her marketability depends on convincing sports fans and brands that her explanation isn’t just some flimsy excuse.
Her early attempt to control the story helps her, says Toronto-based marketing agent Brian Levine.
“People have smartened up and realized that the best thing to do is get out ahead of an issue, and that’s exactly what she did,” says Levine, head of Envision Sports and Entertainment.
Askeptical observer could point out Sharapova has only claimed partial ownership of the doping violation.
While Sharapova says she has taken meldonium since 2006, the drug’s manufacturer told The Associated Press Tuesday that a normal course of treatment lasts four to six weeks.
While meldonium is aimed at angina patients, its manufacturer ran a study in 2012 which found the drug boosts aerobic capacity in athletes. The study’s final paragraph points out meldonium wasn’t included on doping lists, and the drug’s popularity as an unsanctioned performance-- enhancer prompted the World AntiDoping Agency to ban it starting this year.
Doping control rules allow exemptions for athletes with legitimate medical conditions requiring otherwise banned drugs, but Sharapova never filed for one.
Anti-doping authorities say a Canadian likely wouldn’t gain clearance to use meldonium because the drug isn’t approved for use in Canada.
“Typically young, healthy athletes aren’t suffering from those conditions,” says Paul Melia, president and CEO of the Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport. “This is where it gets kind of murky.”
For her part, Williams has refused to pile on Sharapova. Instead, while addressing reporters in New York, Williams praised her rival for addressing the infraction head-on.
“As Maria said, she’s ready to take full responsibility and I think that showed a lot of courage and a lot of heart,” said Williams, who is19-2 lifetime against Sharapova.
Meanwhile, evidence mounts that a scandal doesn’t sentence an athlete to a lifetime of marketing irrelevance.
Houston Texans linebacker Brian Cushing failed a doping test in 2009 but now endorses Onnit, a line of nutritional supplements. American sprinter Justin Gatlin returned from afour-year doping ban in 2010 and by last spring was back on Nike’s roster.
Tiger Woods lost a series of endorsements after his 2009 sex scandal, but high-profile sponsors like Nike have returned even if Woods’ dominance of the game of golf hasn’t.
George Brown College sports mar- keting professor Peter Widdis says Sharapova’s team should concentrate on a long-term strategy for rebuilding her credibility.
“For a sport that only has so many personalities, it’s certainly important for her marketing team to tackle this head-on,” Widdis says. “If I was handling her I wouldn’t just sit in the weeds. I’d jump to the occasion and take a proactive stance.”
Staying marketable also depends on her performance on the court.
Nike stuck with Manny Pacquiao in 2012, when the fighter spoke out against gay marriage. But four years and two crushing losses later, similar comments got him fired by the apparel giant. And Nike rekindled its relationship with Gatlin only after he emerged as a threat to sprint legend Usain Bolt.
But facing the possibility of a fouryear suspension, Sharapova may not have many more chances to atone.
Either way, questions remain about why neither Sharapova nor her advisors realized the grace period on meldonium was expiring, especially with so much money at stake.
“The whole team screwed up,” Widdis says. “You just can’t let stuff like this happen.”