The Nike company will not renew the contract with Maria Sharapova, which expires at the end of this year, and for the Russian player has received nearly $ 9 million per year.
Nike became Sharapova's first major personal sponsor, when Sharapova was a child, in 1998. The Russian girl from the Nika Boletteri Academy was hired to contract at IMG (one of the biggest sports agents in the world), and her personal manager, Max Ayzenbad, convinced the sponsors about the great potential of athletes. Sharapova herself was only 11 years old. Three years later, he made his debut on a professional tour, in 2004 he won Wimbledon, the WTA Final Championship and became a superstar. Falling advertising contracts like cornucopia. No wonder his income has grown to be an extraordinary value.
"When I returned from London after the victory, I went to a regular clothing store, and suddenly I realized for myself that now I could buy everything. Although before that we continued to save everything," Sharapova wrote in her autobiography.
At the same time, Nike remains Sharapova's biggest and most loyal partner. In 2010, the company signed a new agreement totaling $ 70 million. The term of the contract is until the end of 2018. According to him, the world's first racket received around 8.7 million a year, which was a large part of Sharapova's total revenue, which ranged from 22-27 million over 12 months. The deal itself is the biggest in the history of women's sports, and it was he who, at first, made Sharapova the highest paid athlete on the planet for years. In comparison - the size of the total prize in the best season, the most successful, he is no more than 7 million dollars.
What is happening right now ?
March 2016, when Sharapova admitted that she passed a positive doping test to meldonium, Nike became one of the first sponsors, who suspended the partnership with Sharapova. By the way, other companies turned away from the Russians, but not everything he contracted with him. Three months later, when the desire subsided, Nike returned to work with the Russian woman. This year, the total duration of their partnership has reached 20 years! In mid-August, just before the US Open, Sharapova and Nikem introduced a new clothing collection, and a new shoe collection. But only two months later it was discovered that the company did not plan to renew the contract with it, which ended on 31 December. Officially, this has not been announced, but there is no smoke without fire, and insiders rarely make mistakes in such situations.
By the way, Sharapova is not the only top client who was rejected by Nike this year. So, in the spring the company didn't renew the contract with Roger Federer himself. The agreement, which he said Switzerland earned $ 10-12 million dollars a year over the past 10 years, ended March 1. It's ridiculous to imagine and scary to say, but until Wimbledon, the most famous tennis player in history has no official equipment. He continues to play Nike, but no longer receives extra money for it. After the tournament, Switzerland signed an agreement with a Japanese company, Uniqlo - 100 million dollars in 10 years. He will be paid 10 million a year, regardless of how long Roger will continue his career. Nike, first of all, offered Federer half the amount ($ 5 million per year). And, only for a period of time while he stays on tour.
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