As little as some posters like it, the shoe companies obviously agree with you.
We know that they know who she is.
We know that they have done a cost/benefit analysis.
We know that they like to sign athletes before their full value is realized, and be there as the athlete's stock goes up. Signing an athlete like this a year before the Olympics would be ideal.
We know that they are will to take some risk (we can insert a long list of names here, and some posters already have; Armstrong, Kaepernick, etc.).
And yet we also know that nobody has signed her yet. That could change any day, obviously. But as of today, it is what it is.
There are reasons for that.
I have no axe to grind on this topic but until she ran 1.57 she was pretty much a nobody. Now how long was it between Mu doing her first breakthrough to world class and her getting a contract? Measured in years? It sounds a bit of a stretch to make out that something is 'amiss' (ie to back up your dislike of her) after just a couple of weeks. Especially since we are pretty much off the end of the season. If I ran a giant shoe company I wouldn't rush to hire someone just off what are essentially two races in one of which she finished 8th.
Athletes don't get to tell their agent who that agent can or can't represent. That’s not how it works.
Not directly, but they can certainly leave the agent. I’m pretty sure gold medalists have other options. The athlete is more valuable to the agent than the other way around.
You have a vivid imagination. Can you name some track and field athletes who have left an agent because they were mad about what other athletes their agent was representing?
Anyways, someone will sign Wiley, but it likely won't be Nike. The weird situation and her young age of just 19 probably feels a bit too much like the girl from NY they went down this road with 10 years ago.
Age has nothing to do with anything. Nike had no problem signing Athing Mu at age 19. Nike had no problem signing Sha'Carri Richardson at age 19. And Nike was trying like crazy to sign Sydney McLaughlin when she was only 18.
You are incorrect in thinking that Nike wouldn't sign someone who is 19 years old just because Mary Cain didn't work out that great.
Wiley's triumphant story is that she overcame cancer and become a world class athlete. That sounds like something a sponsor would like to promote.
It would be a terrific story. Unfortunately, no one advised her that going on TV and inserting herself into a legal situation was the WORST thing she could have done for herself.
Wiley's triumphant story is that she overcame cancer and become a world class athlete. That sounds like something a sponsor would like to promote.
It would be a terrific story. Unfortunately, no one advised her that going on TV and inserting herself into a legal situation was the WORST thing she could have done for herself.
Like she is the first teenager to make a bad decision? If every teenager who made a bad decision never got sponsored, there would be a lot of unsponsored athletes.
That interview won't stopped some company from sponsoring her.
It would be a terrific story. Unfortunately, no one advised her that going on TV and inserting herself into a legal situation was the WORST thing she could have done for herself.
Like she is the first teenager to make a bad decision? If every teenager who made a bad decision never got sponsored, there would be a lot of unsponsored athletes.
That interview won't stopped some company from sponsoring her.
I'm not saying that she won't get a sponsor because she definitely will. I just think she wont get a six figure deal any time soon. She's probably already been offered the standard $25,000 + bonus contract and she's holding out. Good for her. She's worth more than that, but her current market value is a little low. I bet by late January at the latest she'll be repping some major brand.
One of the most telling things for me is that no professional athletes ever congratulate her, at least not publicly. Given the overall friendly vibe of female track athletes these days, especially in the 1500, it just feels like the entire sport is staying away from that controversy. You can't look at a social media post following a race without all the female players in mid and distance commenting a giant love fest but never for Addy Wiley.
You didn't respond to what I posted at all. I am interested to hear examples of other people offered pro contracts two weeks after a single breakthrough race achieved after the WC when a lot of athletes are winding down, tired and/or going on vacation. Yes there may be case of a sponsor trying to get someone before their price gets too high but there has to something solid to go on performance wise and pre 1.57 I don't see that. 4.03/1.59 even as a teenager... was that worth a contract?
You didn't respond to what I posted at all. I am interested to hear examples of other people offered pro contracts two weeks after a single breakthrough race achieved after the WC when a lot of athletes are winding down, tired and/or going on vacation. Yes there may be case of a sponsor trying to get someone before their price gets too high but there has to something solid to go on performance wise and pre 1.57 I don't see that.
4.03/1.59 even as a teenager... was that worth a contract?
Absolutely! Are you kidding me? There's never been a teenage girl in US history who has run 4:03 and hasn't gotten a contract.
Ja Morant can flash a gun twice on IG live and still be sponsored by Nike. Nike doesn’t care. They will sign anyone. They have Wiley’s contract waiting for it to be signed.
Ja Morant can flash a gun twice on IG live and still be sponsored by Nike. Nike doesn’t care. They will sign anyone. They have Wiley’s contract waiting for it to be signed.
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