It's Official: Sydney McLaughlin has turned professional

Samuel DeChamplain wrote:

Since last night till now

Twitter +14k followers (94.2k)

Instagram +27k (252k)

And she hasn’t even been able to actively market herself because of college

Just for reference as well Felix has a little over 500k total followers, syd hasn’t even been on social media for 18 months and has 3/5th

And the social media stats are a huge part of her marketability, too.

Hayduke wrote:

I'm not sure about the 750,000 figure, but I think you are underestimating how much someone like Sydney would get.

She was amazing in high school, and yet she has improved a ton this year. That and she has a strong social media presence. She has ~80k followers on twitter alone. That's pretty strong for someone running an event like the 400m hurdles. Additionally, a lot more high school-age kids know who sydney is VS other top athletes. It also certainly doesn't hurt that she is pretty attractive.

We know how much Boris Berian was offered. Somewhere in the realm of 125,000 if I remember correctly, and while he did rise to the relative top pretty quickly, he was nowhere near as big a name as Sydney, or nearly as marketable overall.

Showing my age here. but I don't see how "likes" and "followers" translate to anything real. 80k is a real number, but of that 80k how many really follow after the initial click?[/quote]

The percent of the 80k is probably fairly low, but the thing is that she has a fairly large social media presence. This is useful for companies because they can have her post about X product and bam, that post makes it to 80k people at no cost to the company. This is why a lot of companies work with people with a bunch of followers on Instagram. These people are calling "influencers" can be reach people that a typical, expensive ad campaign may not reach. Look at mileposts on Instagram for a good example

Dr No wrote:

One and done college .

FTR - I said 250 base plus whatever

No you didn't unless you posted it under a different handle.

The sport is still trying to find its next star post Bolt and hasnt had any luck. I also believe current social trends will favor a female athlete as the next Bolt anyways. She has more atheletic potiential than anyone and she’s by far the most marketable. Further, shoe brands are desperately trying to remain relevant in a changing landscape where influencers come less and less from trusted institutions like Nike or Adidas. Sydney brings a social following and style that will bring brands into the homes of the next generation (instagram, snapchat, etc). She could make $100-200k a year pushing products to her social followers alone. Put it all together and Sydney is the future of track and field, period. Any brand will be lucky to have her sign.

Nice. She should be up for ~1.5 million over 2-3 years. Biggest asset (as is the case with all one-and-done athletes) is potential. In her case, being hot is also an advantage (companies can use her for billboards, etc.).

Speaking as someone who knows the deals of a few NCAA stars who have gone pro in the last several years, some of the numbers thrown out here are incredibly low. I will not try to guess an exact yearly salary or contract length, as there are too many factors to consider, but, in my opinion, the idea that she signs for any less than $250k annual base salary seems far-fetched. Although my knowledge is more focused on what several male athletes have received, I have a few female references.

Additionally, one name that comes to mind for comparison is Candace Hill. Similar to Sydney, she was a star very early (what most would consider 'massive success' at the age of 16). However, Candace decided to capitalize on that and sign a 10 year, multi-mllion dollar deal with ASICS while the hype was high.

While Candace did have the advantage that came with signing with a 'lower-profile' company like ASICS (signing the largest contract ever for a female track athlete with the company), the broad assumption is that Sydney will probably end up with Nike or Adidas. This, plus being slightly older, will mean she probably doesn't sign a deal of equal length, but her proven success at the collegiate level and posting of world-leading times will give her a boost. Add that to the things people have already pointed out in this thread (looks, social media following, potential longevity, etc.) and the fact that she is quite well-spoken and handles herself well on camera, and McLaughlin will signing a very lucrative deal some time very soon.

Before anyone jumps on the missed word... will be signing

Phantasy Star wrote:

hot as hale

BROWN AS HALE

400 and 400h records are doomed!

SYDNEY MF'ING MCLAUGHLIN

400h yes,

400m no on a spectacular scale, if that record isn't wiped and trannies are banned, it'll still stand in 50 years time.

I find your language (and by the words you use in your language, your political views) pretty repellant. That being said, you're damn right that no woman who isn't using anabolic steroids is taking down Koch's 47.60. That time is no doubt doped up as f*ck.

I know a few people who turned pro- one started at 50K plus out of college.

Another was offered 200K plus while in high school.

And another 4K (not a typo) out of college.

Don't forget running is more of an international sport. Many of these people are more popular in Europe than in the USA.

The sport is in good spikes. wrote:

Glad you're coming around on salaries.

She'll sign a seven year deal at $15-20mill + pretty bells and loud whistles.

She'll become the biggest female athlete on Planet Earth.

The future is Sydney McLaughlin.

-P

This.

Scorpion_runner wrote:

Wrong Scorpo wrote:

She will probably get at least double or triple the $250 per year. Maybe more. She doesn't have to prove jack. She already has. It's called marketing. Get it?

You guys really over- exaggerate the contracts that are offered to track and road running athletes.

Look up redundant -- exaggerate means you use the redundant over-exaggerate for. [By the way, she will not likely get 750,000, but some companies will be willing to put up a bunch to get a 5-year contract, I think. Nike always seems to use performance clauses with high salaries that get knocked down if you do not do very well. UK is a Nike school, not sure if the coaching group is aligned or not, but that is likely to be the decider if it is.

I wonder whether for a big contract she needed to prove that she could win golds at other distances, because her central event is not a marquee event. Notice how quickly her event at NCAA's came and went with minimal publicity on the race itself.

If she doesn't compete against and beat the best talents in the world at 200m/400m, it's not clear to me that she'll get all that much attention for just the 400mH.

The Olympics will likely give her two events, 400mh and 4*4, to showcase her talents. If she can improve a little bit in the 400m flat, she may have the rare talent of 400m, 400mh, and 4*400.

I’m not sure what the schedule is to allow that, but that would be pretty sick.

Even without a marquee event, she can still just bring a lot of attention to her races like Emma Coburn for the steeple. If Sydney was a 100m/200m dash phenom, she would be an even bigger deal though.