Centro Has Turned Pro

I think that Centro fills the "hispanic" bill for those convinced that GF would do that. Centro is the perfect mix of Hispanic/Black/Euro, making him attractive to nearly every ethnic group. Big $$ for Cento who has the talent/bloodline, results, the Nike connection from Oregon, and the appeal to the public. Congratulations and good luck to him.

The Know wrote:

[quote]Luv pepper wrote:

Wejo, where do you find these numbers? I have wondered how much pro runners make, but can't seem to find the data.

quote]

I have prepared tax returns for a few well known runners and I can verify that this is a good estimate. Some more and some less. But good ball park.

Thanks for the response

wejo wrote:

On a run the other day, I said Fernandez cost himself at least a million.

With Fernandez lets say he could have gone pro for at least $250k a year. We'd be coming up on $750k he's lost out on. And a good agent would have tried to structure the deal through 2016.

And $250k per is just the minimum I figure they'd have to pay him to give up 3 years of college. He might have gotten more.

Not if he had put out the same results as he had since. You know they have the right to reduce your base if you don't meet performance goals and rankings, right?

rojo wrote:

If you don't think German Fernandez would have got at least 6 figures when he was a freshmen, then you are out of it. One could argue Derrick was possibly better at the long distances but not a chance in the world in earning potential.

The facts are clear - a good agent would have gotten German Alan Webb type money.

Fernandez may have gotten 6 figures but not anywhere near what Webb got - good agent or not. You are the one who is out of it.

The Know wrote:

Also, you aren't going to find this data. It's not public information.

I love how the salaries of track and field athletes are such a big secret. The hush-hush nature of the professional level of our sport only helps speculation on this message board and nothing else.

crazy person wrote:

The Know wrote:

Also, you aren't going to find this data. It's not public information.

I love how the salaries of track and field athletes are such a big secret. The hush-hush nature of the professional level of our sport only helps speculation on this message board and nothing else.

Any personal endorsement deal is done so under strictly confidential terms. Did Vitamin Water publish how much they paid Tom Brady to be in their ads?

The fact that none of you guys are realizing is that Webb's 250k was when he had ZERO momentum. Of course, this is LetsRun so none of you will believe what I'm about to say, but when Webb ran 3:53 and continued to be an impressive HS kid for the remainder of the summer, he was offered a about 6x what he eventually signed for. It was essentially a drop in the bucket for Nike with 6 years to pay off. Webb's 2001 (pre contract) and 2007 year more than justified the cumulative total of any money that Nike has ever paid him. He was a budding star, even made it to Letterman!

Recently, there was discussion on if Webb still has a contract with Nike and it was discovered that he did. Although, I'm removed from the sport somewhat, not connected like I was in 2001, I'd imagine that he was given a similar contract to his original amount with the same thinking that, that this guy is the biggest talent we've ever seen and commands the most attention.

As RoJo pointed out, what he did at Michigan was considered "bombing." He was 4th, which is great for a freshman, but this is ALAN WEBB we're talking about. Webb is the biggest distance talent that probably 99% of LetsRun posters have ever seen and he is NEVER judged as a mortal. Like someone else said, Nike actually re-made the Bob Kennedy's in Michigan and Colorado colors because of how popular a) Alan Webb was b) how popular (less so) Ritzenhein was as the closest rival to Webb. Chris Lear also essentially wrote a book on Webb, while Webb was a 19-year old, I bought it.

Fernandez will undoubtedly get a contract. It won't be for 50k either. Nike would pay them substantially more than they'd even pay someone like Jager/Bumbi/Russell Brown etc. You know why? Nike is the marketing arm of sports, not the team. On a team, you may get what you're performances are worth but with an endorsement, you are paid on interest generation and monetization value. (This is how LeBron gets $90M before playing an NBA game).

If they had an exclusive interview with German on LetsRun vs someone like Bumbi for example, German would get 10x the viewership. If German was wearing the latest Nike gear, he's effectively a 10x better advertisement than Bumbi just on viewership, not even factoring in increased appeal. No disrespect to the other runners mentioned.

Great points Splits. The only numbers I don't agree with are:

-The Webb 6x 250 per year number (though I was around during that time and remember large numbers being tossed around). If I recall, even when Webb signed (originally it was 6years at 250per) they were calling it a 1.5M contract, could this be what you were thinking? I don't think Nike was going to pay him 1.5M per year.

-The German 10x viewership vs Bumbi. I think you're lowballing that one.

The other thing that people dont realize is, Webb started this. Webb's first contract was many multiples more money than Bob Kennedy made for his entire career. Wheating signed a monster deal last summer, but this wouldn't be possible without Webb's trailblazing.

Kiko wrote:

So.....it's all about the money?

I think by definition "professional" involves money. So, yes.

Anyone who thinks German couldn't have cleared 8 figures per year is out of it.

Any personal endorsement deal is done so under strictly confidential terms. Did Vitamin Water publish how much they paid Tom Brady to be in their ads?

Yup they sure did, it was printed in USA today..."Brady's three-year deal is worth $3 million to $5 million, with a bonus based on sales. Print, outdoor and Web ads begin in November. A TV ad will follow."

Running companies dont publish how much runners make because it would be discouraging, not encouraging to know.

Fernandez wont be worth as much money once his indoor mile record falls this season to Batty.

And Centrowitz did a smart thing. I am sure he believes in his head that he will medal at the olympics.

Phil,

The $250k figure is the number that Webb "settled" for. If you remember, he was injured during the indoor season. Then he didn't exactly light up the track in outdoor. I feel like he ran some losing efforts at 800m and just didn't have the 'it' factor. He was offered substantially more 1 year prior.

About the viewership, I know that is conservative, it's more so to illustrate the point than to be an exact estimate. Also, I didn't want to err to the side of hyperbole.

The big thing with Centro (not that it matters at this point) is that he has a WC medal. I'm not sure exactly how it works in distance events, but medalists in premier events can get $20k+ appearance fee for GL meets. He also has Bolt's agent, so he'll get favorable checks just because promoters have to honor the relationship.

they sure did wrote:

Any personal endorsement deal is done so under strictly confidential terms. Did Vitamin Water publish how much they paid Tom Brady to be in their ads?

Yup they sure did, it was printed in USA today..."Brady's three-year deal is worth $3 million to $5 million, with a bonus based on sales. Print, outdoor and Web ads begin in November. A TV ad will follow."

Running companies dont publish how much runners make because it would be discouraging, not encouraging to know.

Fair call. I should say then that they're under no obligation to publish the amounts since they're not salaries.

Best of luck to him!

How great is this push he makes about 2:50 into this video? It's awesome to see a young runner with the poise and confidence he has.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vts8_XEpMT0

well a lot of speculating on how much he made, i am sure it is enough to make him happy, but how will do you think he will do? a superstar who had his international coming out party in korea 2011? a 1 hit wonder?

my opinion, he will have a personal best of 3:31, but will be consistently sub 3:34, lots of 3:32-3:33, will be a regular in world/olympic finals due to his knowledge of where to positon himself in a race and blazing kick.

lifetime best's

800-1:44.4

1500-3:31.4

mile- 3:48.2

5k-12:57 (its in his genes).

solid and consitent at a high level, kind of the opposite of webb, but he wont have personal best's as fast as webb.

anyone else want to talk about his running future, or would that be hijacking the thread?

malmo wrote:

rojo wrote:

If you don't think German Fernandez would have got at least 6 figures when he was a freshmen, then you are out of it. One could argue Derrick was possibly better at the long distances but not a chance in the world in earning potential.

The facts are clear - a good agent would have gotten German Alan Webb type money.

Fernandez may have gotten 6 figures but not anywhere near what Webb got - good agent or not. You are the one who is out of it.

Exactly. Were any producers calling GF's HS to book him on Letterman?

Fernandez will get a contract for simply fact that he is one of the MOST popular runners in America. I only read this entire string because he and Webb were discussed.

German Lost Nothing wrote:

You don't remember the controversy on the boards over whether German was a faking injury, headcase, selfish in choosing Jr. XC over Indoors NCAAs and then not doing anything remarkable there, the anger directed at him due to his fans claiming he was going to beat Rupp at 5k his Freshman year, etc? German had great name recognition, but not anymore than Chris Derrick, and with far more negatives and risks attached than Derric

k.

You are correct. I don't remember a big controversy over him faking an injury. No, I remember being pumped that he was going to worlds. So pumped I think i was basically the only US 'journalist' to get on a plane and go to world xc.

But I do want to correct what i wrote before. German wasn't the 'name' that Webb was - he wasn't on Letterman and Lear didn't write a book about him - so he wouldn't have gotten Webb type money but I do think he should have been able to get 6 figures although 2009 was the post-Olympic year when there isn't often a lot of money.

Webb was very big so big that a 4th was viewed as a bomb.