Webb’s first contact was $250k per year for 6 years. That was obviously over 20 years ago. I’d think Cooper would be about 750k but not a million per year.
Wheating at 700k+ has to be the biggest contract letdown in USA running history. It's like Pujols and the Angels.
No way is Cooper getting less than 7 figures per year. If he is, he should fire his parents.
Given his "Top Gun" looks and the upcoming LA Olympics, I can see why you'd pay him a ton. But I'm not sure it's a slam dunk you'd pay him gold medal money without winning gold.
Good thing he's about to win Gold. Unless Brazier musters enough to hold him off again.
Surprised it hasn't come up yet but my first thought was Athing Mu.
The hype around Cooper feels similar to Athing, granted with the Gold I'm sure she demanded more than cooper, but he still feels closer to her than other people mentioned.
So far, Cooper's team has had a straight-shot, no-nonsense agenda laid out for him. Keep training simple and fun, go out and race, don't overthink it.
You can still have fun as a pro athlete but it changes the equation significantly. For him and his team to drop everything and sign - he must have been offered a seriously obscene amount of money. Absolutely in the 7 figures annually range, plus stuff like a full ride to any school and lord knows what else.
Kessler didn't even make the USA final and still got a 10 million multi-year deal plus school - Cooper made the damn team.
It seems crazy that a 16 year old could be making millions based on one race. I hope Cooper continues to do well but there are so many HS phenoms that didn't do well. I'd like to at least see how he does in the world championships and if he can continue running at that level.
When I think of the Nike contracts with athletes from other sports and Nike wanting the shiny new thing it's easy for me to think $2 million for 4 years guaranteed plus bonuses.
I'm pleased to see there is a thread on this - actually two which I have merged into 1 - as I was thinking of starting one myself - How much do we think Cooper is making?
I think it's a ton.
Here are some figures that i have heard others made when they turned pro.
Valby 850k Wheating 700+ Lyles 750k Kessler 450k(I also heard 10 years 6 million so who knows is that was right, maybe it was 10 and 4). Hunter 450k Sumner 350+ Markevich 350+ Webb/Centro 250k (I heard this from a less reliable source a coach) Suliman 100+
I thought I heard that some of these sprint contracts are the highest. One of these rando HS sprinters that we barely pay attention to on LRC may have gotten a million.
If he signed for anything less than 500k a year, he got a bad deal. I haven't heard anything but will ask around.
PS. Anyone interested in this thread will undoubtedly be interested in thei 2018 piece we did where we polled agents on how much people make:
It seems like stuff is higher now due to more teams and inflation.
You Know Better Than Anyone, The Figures So and So Said These athletes Made are MEANINGLESS As Track and Field Athletes are FORCED to Sign NON DISCLOSURE AGREEMENTS Meaning if They Reveal Details of Their Contract ESPECIALLY What they are Paid by the Company Not Only Are they Terminated from Their Current Company, But they will be Blackballed From The Other Companies/Brands
EXAMPLE MR. Super Prospect, is signed be Addidas And Signs A Non Disclosure Agreement, Mr Super Prospect Gets Drunk And Is Asked How Much is The Contract Paying You, Mr Super Prospect says 800 Thouand Dollars, Addidas Finds out he Broke The Non Disclosure Agreement and Terminate Mr. Super Prospect's Contract IMMEDIATELY, So Mr Super Prospect Goes To NIKE, New Balance, Asics And Many Other Companies/Brands, None Of The Companies Want To Give Him a Contract as He broke The Non Disclosusure Agreement with them, So He could do The same To us, He is Not Worth the Risk, So Mr. Super Prospect Asks Friends and Family and Fans And None of Them have evenough To Support his Career, So He Has No Sponsor or Financial Help, So he is out of Luck And It looks like His Athletic Career is over, But He Has A Pretty Sister Who Marries A Mega Billionaire, Who Agrees To Support Mr. Super Prospect's Career and He lives Happily Ever After., Well we want a Happy Ending Right?
As For The 2018 Articles And The Agents And Athletes Guesses, As I Remeber The Guesses were All Aver The place, With Enormous Variance about Who Makes What.
One Thing Track and Field Athletes are just about ALWAYS Underpaid, for what their real worth is If The Contracts were allowed to be seen by The Public, As Agents would have A LOT more Bargaining Power, If They Had EXACT Figures of Who makes what.
As For Cooper L I would GUESS his Contract is between 800k to 1.5 Million Dollars, But I have No Way of Knowing and that amount even if it were correct Would the Pay be Over 1 Year? 3 Years? 5 Years? Nobody Knows UNLESS it Goes To Court and becomes Public.
It would Be Better for Athletes Moneywise if their Contaracts were Public, But Track and Field Athletes do not have Bargaining Power like The NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL Do, So we can only Guess. And The Ones Who Do know would likely lose Everything if They said what it is, So They Wont.
MAYBE Nike pays him $1 mil a year based on potential, but at this point it's all hopeful speculation that he will turn into a bug deal. Alan Webb was a huge name back in HS, going on national TV talk shows and such. Track nerds like us are freaking out about his 142 at 16, but I don't think Cooper Lutkenhaus is exactly a household name at this point.
I'm pleased to see there is a thread on this - actually two which I have merged into 1 - as I was thinking of starting one myself - How much do we think Cooper is making?
I think it's a ton.
Here are some figures that i have heard others made when they turned pro.
Valby 850k Wheating 700+ Lyles 750k Kessler 450k(I also heard 10 years 6 million so who knows is that was right, maybe it was 10 and 4). Hunter 450k Sumner 350+ Markevich 350+ Webb/Centro 250k (I heard this from a less reliable source a coach) Suliman 100+
I thought I heard that some of these sprint contracts are the highest. One of these rando HS sprinters that we barely pay attention to on LRC may have gotten a million.
If he signed for anything less than 500k a year, he got a bad deal. I haven't heard anything but will ask around.
PS. Anyone interested in this thread will undoubtedly be interested in thei 2018 piece we did where we polled agents on how much people make:
If we’re throwing around these big numbers that we think these athletes make, why does Craig Engels live in a trailer? I know he probably didn’t command as much as these big names did, but you’d think he’d still be making like $150k-$250k if the big shots were making over $500k. Plus he’s a U.S. champion. Did he gamble it all away at a casino?
If we’re throwing around these big numbers that we think these athletes make, why does Craig Engels live in a trailer? I know he probably didn’t command as much as these big names did, but you’d think he’d still be making like $150k-$250k if the big shots were making over $500k. Plus he’s a U.S. champion. Did he gamble it all away at a casino?
It doesn't work like that. In track, the financial benefits accrue to the people at the pinnacle. A #10 guy isn't going to make 1/5 of what the top guy makes. He will make more like 1/50th.
No idea what he is making, obviously, but a contract design that would make sense would be a base contract of a few hundred thousand a year, and then big bonuses for winning big races and running fast.
He's 16, and has had a breakout year, but often what happens with people after crazy breakout years is that the crazy times resulted from everything going just right, and then they can take years getting back to that level. So many examples of that happening. Maybe he runs 1:41 next year and ends up getting the WR while he's still a teenager, maybe he places high at worlds this year, or maybe he's a consistent 1:44 guy for the next couple years before he can consistently compete at his PR level and against the best runners in the world. There's no way to know because at the time of signing his contract, despite being a 1:42-low runner, he's ran under 1:45 exactly once.
So I would think the base contract would be high enough (maybe 400k-500k) for him to sign right away while the iron is hot and he's coming off the most absurd HS performance of all time, but not so high that he's guaranteed many millions no matter what. With big bonuses for showing he can continue to compete at his PR level and become the next big 800m runner in the world.
No idea what he is making, obviously, but a contract design that would make sense would be a base contract of a few hundred thousand a year, and then big bonuses for winning big races and running fast.
He's 16, and has had a breakout year, but often what happens with people after crazy breakout years is that the crazy times resulted from everything going just right, and then they can take years getting back to that level. So many examples of that happening. Maybe he runs 1:41 next year and ends up getting the WR while he's still a teenager, maybe he places high at worlds this year, or maybe he's a consistent 1:44 guy for the next couple years before he can consistently compete at his PR level and against the best runners in the world. There's no way to know because at the time of signing his contract, despite being a 1:42-low runner, he's ran under 1:45 exactly once.
So I would think the base contract would be high enough (maybe 400k-500k) for him to sign right away while the iron is hot and he's coming off the most absurd HS performance of all time, but not so high that he's guaranteed many millions no matter what. With big bonuses for showing he can continue to compete at his PR level and become the next big 800m runner in the world.
I just wonder if ALL the shoe companies would feel this way. I’m sure everyone had an offer for him. A 750k+ offer from one company taking a small risk doesn’t seem out of the question.
It seems crazy that a 16 year old could be making millions based on one race. I hope Cooper continues to do well but there are so many HS phenoms that didn't do well. I'd like to at least see how he does in the world championships and if he can continue running at that level.
Well blowing by 2 world champions and nearly catching a third while running 4 seconds faster than any other high schooler ever changes the calculus. But more importantly, no other 800 phenom in high school was actually world class so if they didn't get better they wouldn't accomplish anything on the world stage. He on the other hand is threat in any 800 race on the planet right now.
No idea what he is making, obviously, but a contract design that would make sense would be a base contract of a few hundred thousand a year, and then big bonuses for winning big races and running fast.
He's 16, and has had a breakout year, but often what happens with people after crazy breakout years is that the crazy times resulted from everything going just right, and then they can take years getting back to that level. So many examples of that happening. Maybe he runs 1:41 next year and ends up getting the WR while he's still a teenager, maybe he places high at worlds this year, or maybe he's a consistent 1:44 guy for the next couple years before he can consistently compete at his PR level and against the best runners in the world. There's no way to know because at the time of signing his contract, despite being a 1:42-low runner, he's ran under 1:45 exactly once.
So I would think the base contract would be high enough (maybe 400k-500k) for him to sign right away while the iron is hot and he's coming off the most absurd HS performance of all time, but not so high that he's guaranteed many millions no matter what. With big bonuses for showing he can continue to compete at his PR level and become the next big 800m runner in the world.
Except for the fact that every shoe company would compete for him and he has a legit agent. So no, they could easily command guaranteed millions. It's like.you all forget they can negotiate with multiple companies for the best deal.