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.