Leo Manzano Announcement

questioner of weights and stuf wrote:

First of all, thank you for visiting! I hope this New Year brings much happiness, love, and success too all of you.

Clearly not American.

Oh, so you've never made a typo?

Ricky Simms is Manzano's agent. He has Bolt, Mo, Rupp, to name a few and he can't get Manzano a deal? Either Simms is not trying or Leo is getting some really bad advice from somebody.

At this point Manzano's value has to have dropped and he should pretty much grab anything. If he thinks he can make more money selling t-shirts than anything a shoe company can sign him for then he really is not too bright.

Seems like Symmonds was able to make a new deal pretty fast and was pretty much in the same position as Manzano was a year ago (earned a major medal and was involved in a little controversy - with the whole Mexican flag thing and Nick with the gay issue in Russia ) so he should have had a deal by now.

So conclusion is:

A) Agent not really working for him

or

B) Somebody is giving Manzano some really bad advice

or

C) He is viewed as toxic by the shoe co's for some reason

or some combo of the above 3

Seems like Symmonds was able to make a new deal pretty fast and was pretty much in the same position as Manzano was a year ago...

Symmonds and Manzano are night and day in terms of marketability my friend. I'd reckon to say Symmonds is worth more than other US runner right now barring Shane and Kara (and Hall and Meb depending on the company). Manzano I wouldn't put in the top 15.

Did not mean that he would be worth the same just that he had a major medal so should have been able to sign with somebody.

So as I stated before

A) Simms is not doing his job to get him some kind of deal

or

B) Somebody is giving him bad advice (tell him to hold out for more money that he is worth more and he is not and as each day goes by that drops even more. Somebody also must have advised him that he can make a bundle of money selling t-shirts)

or

C) The shoe companies view his as toxic

putins black hole wrote:

Did not mean that he would be worth the same just that he had a major medal so should have been able to sign with somebody.

So as I stated before

A) Simms is not doing his job to get him some kind of deal

or

B) Somebody is giving him bad advice (tell him to hold out for more money that he is worth more and he is not and as each day goes by that drops even more. Somebody also must have advised him that he can make a bundle of money selling t-shirts)

or

C) The shoe companies view his as toxic

I think there is no one reason. Leo is not hugely marketable ("toxic" is incorrect as much as the uber-patriots would like to think), and has been offered a deal and declined it. I would guess he's probably been offered deals with other companies as well (and therefore declined those as well). The medal unfortunately doesn't mean as much as the kind of exposure Kara, Shalane and to a lesser degree Symmonds get in terms of contract value, especially since none of them are likely to get future World or Oly medals. Kara and Shalane are interviewed constantly and cross into the mainstream space - that's huge for apparel makers. There's nothing wrong with sticking to your guns in terms of what you believe your value to be, but unfortunately, in a position as his, his value drops significantly every month he's unsponsored.

I think the only thing "toxic" is lack of consistency -- not too unlike Webb. That's the lion he has to tame.

I will buy his T-shirt.

Ironic that you make a jab at a post being stupid and follow it up with a dumber one.

How on earth do you think the system works? Every other professional sport has revenue streams that are diverse, fair market, and centered around the idea that sponsors are not the owners... in running its the exact opposite.

I love the argument that runners don't add to the bottom line. Are you sure about that? If that was the case, then why give Galen Rupp so much money and non to Leo? They both have silvers. Why give Hall so much and he hasn't run a race in 2 years?

People act like there is no money in running, and that just isn't true. More people than ever are running 5k's through marathons and everyone of them are buying shoes. Running is a golden goose compared to other sports because the margin is through the roof. Why? Because they own the market.

If you own the usatf, all the meets, who can advertise at them, what your athlete can wear while racing, all with the threat of being unsanctioned, essentially ending why all these people race, the olympics, you own them and you set the market of what they're worth.

Leo is doing what Meb did, what Symmonds did, and hopefully what many others will do, find new youthful sponsors to give the conglomerate true competition, driving up revenue for runners.

And why is fans giving financial support such a bad thing. Every other sport has jersey sales, individual shoes, and other athlete specific merchandise where sales percentages go to the athlete... not track... because they don't have to.

I understand your post, but I think you, like many others, are duped into thinking the classic model of track and field is the only way to make money, and Nike should be applauded instead of criticized. They are the AAU of old, and it's up to fans, athletes, and a governing body with some balls to create a better market.

Until then, you're college graduate hopefuls will live on foodstamps for 3 or 4 years before they realize their degrees will actually earn them a living compared to being homeless, and only the select few will have the opportunity to really put pedal to metal. Ironically, good looking Olympic athletes.

What ?

Meb is the face of a brand and by far is so far in front of what any of the runners mentioned have or will do.

I don't think the purple shirt looks bad, but I'm sure as hell not paying 20 dollars for it, especially if that doesn't include shipping.

I wish we could've gotten those cool Galen shirts made. The yellow with black looked sweet.

My purple shirt is on its way! $30 including shipping. I think it sucks that given his accomplishments he is still without a sponsor, but I'm glad to have the opportunity to sponsor/ contribute directly to Leo. The shirt also costs less than a nike dryfit, Good luck!

Yes!! The sport has been too dependent on the shoe company support for decades. No new NASCAR driver thinks they must rely on Ford, Toyota, Chevy, etc. to be their support. Back in my management days I was ridiculed for Trojan Condoms being a potential sponsor. They offered $2.4 million to my group of 15 athletes back in 1993 or so! Idiot CEO of then TAC shut that deal down but it was thinking outside the box.This sport relies too much on shoe companies and limits itself by doing so.

Precious Roy wrote:

The sport has been too dependent on the running shoe industry for sponsorship and the shoe industry has proven themselves as being incapable of finding and supporting new talent or continuing support for accomplished athletes who have had some bumps in the road.