No Surprise: Kara Goucher joins Oiselle.Big Surprise: Turned down 7 figures from shoe company

Good point and it's not like running apparel sales are strong right now. Even the big running brands struggle to make money with apparel.

You haters are as stupid as bricks are hard.

The problem here is an accomplished and very marketable athlete has moved on, made a decision and has the audacity to blog about it. Too bad that 99.9% of you "geniuses" have never even met someone who has actually negotiated a contract, yet you can comment on hers. No wonder the sporting world advertisers take such a dim view of the fan support here. You guys suck. You wanna hate? Then follow the WWE. It fit your IQ.

Best to Kara and Adam.

hbwmb wrote:

When she says "7 figures", I'm sure she's talking about the total value of the contract, i.e., say, 4 years at $250k/yr = $1mil = "7 figures".

has to be. Even top sprinters rarely make that much.

I'm curious what the apparel side of a contract matters anyway. I'd figure 30+% shoes, 5% apparel, 55% exclusivity.

A shoe company could still offer her a ton

Moe, I agree there's a lot of haters but I have to say, a big red flag in my mind is why the "seven figure" quote didn't make the story. often times, things don't make a story b/c they can't be confirmed. she didn't have to make them a copy, just showing Germano a contract offer would have been enough, but that didn't happen. to me, it doesn't pass the smell test. just sad to see near certain embellishment, she's accomplished plenty, no need to exaggerate things, makes her look silly. agree, disagree?

Agree, that's all I said. Talking about how much money you make (or could have made) is always in poor taste. I'm surprised a fan tweeted that thinking it was a good marketing for her. It's not. Stay positive.

just saying again wrote:

Agree, that's all I said. Talking about how much money you make (or could have made) is always in poor taste. I'm surprised a fan tweeted that thinking it was a good marketing for her. It's not. Stay positive.

That wasn't a fan tweeting, that was the writer for the Wall Street Journal, and it's not her job to provide good marketing.

Doo wrote:

just saying again wrote:

Agree, that's all I said. Talking about how much money you make (or could have made) is always in poor taste. I'm surprised a fan tweeted that thinking it was a good marketing for her. It's not. Stay positive.

That wasn't a fan tweeting, that was the writer for the Wall Street Journal, and it's not her job to provide good marketing.

The post was about her sponsor. It is literally her job to provide good marketing.

Oiselle clothes are beautiful and well made. The company stands for integrity and morals. It does not surprise me that, after recent events in track and field, that Kara decided to go with a company that stands for something other than $$$.

i think you are crazy.never heard of this company before, went on their website to check out their products. the clothes and models wearing them look quite nice.

...Bleu wrote:

So ugly. The race kit is nasty. Where are all the fans who claim her Nike offer was the same? LOL!

Comedy of errors wrote:

7 figure offer? Thats 8 figures of bullshit

I think that what a lot of the younger guys don't realize is that running is a world sport.

Someone like Kara Goucher, not well known in the USA, is more popular internationally.

How many people in Europe care about ANY NFL QB?

Do you really think people in Europe who watch soccer and track think that some over weight lineman in the NFL is an athlete?

Kara is more of an international figure than most popular American athletes.

Deer Kara Goucher wrote:

http://www.karagoucher.com/why-oiselle/

That's honestly one of the most boring things I've ever read.

runn wrote:

Comedy of errors wrote:

7 figure offer? Thats 8 figures of bullshit

I think that what a lot of the younger guys don't realize is that running is a world sport.

Someone like Kara Goucher, not well known in the USA, is more popular internationally.

How many people in Europe care about ANY NFL QB?

Do you really think people in Europe who watch soccer and track think that some over weight lineman in the NFL is an athlete?

Kara is more of an international figure than most popular American athletes.

It also probably was not a 7-figure per year deal. It isn't hard to believe someone could get a four-year deal for a total of over a million.

How is Oiselle going to catch on? Started in 2007 and is "hoping" to hit near $10M in revenues by 2015? Does not sound like a success story.

Kara will give them life for another Olympic cycle, but I don't see Brooks buying Oiselle any time in the near future, if ever. They have a great women's customer apparel base.

I understand someone making a career decision based on "emotion" when deciding whether to spend 8 hours a day, 5 days a week working for company A or company B. But when your job is running, and you are among the fortunate few who are able to a command big bucks from a sponsor to do what you love.,.and you know your shelf life as an elite is limited....then wouldn't it be smarter to go for the shoe company offering the seven figure salary salary??

I love Kara, but....I just don't get why she wouldn't go with New Balance or whatever established shoe company made her the big offer. There'll be plenty of time later in her career to go with Oiselle (if they even still exist). Frankly, the reasoning in her blog post seems a bit naive to me.

Fam speaks

Anthony Famiglietti ‏@recklessrunning 8m

@karagoucher I had approached major corps for shoe only deals years ago, I can say it is a major uphill battle to instigate positive change.

Everyone gets that these contracts are multi year deals right? The Nike or Asics 7 figures is probably one million over 10 years. Maybe 8. Oiselle only probably has 50k salary for her for a few years, but I'd think she's now an investor which would explain why it's so emotional. She didn't just get a new sponsor. She got a post elite career.

NJ Possible wrote:

Everyone gets that these contracts are multi year deals right?

No, this is LetsRun. Everyone doesn't get it. People here really are that stupid.

Deer LetsRunners wrote:

No, this is LetsRun. Everyone doesn't get it. People here really are that stupid.

+1

I find Kara's blog post sort of strange. If Oiselle is a company so dedicated to honesty and integrity, why did they invite the Gouchers out to Seattle only to tell them they can't make Kara an offer? And, more importantly, what does it mean to call the company back and ask them to "reconsider"? Is that like interviewing for a job, being told the company isn't going to offer it to you, and then calling them back to beg for another interview?

So much of sports marketing, though, is marketing. I'm sure there are a million details of her negotiations with Nike, Oiselle, and every other major shoe company in the US that we'll never learn about.

The good news is she's got a deal with an exciting young company that could prove to be a major positive decision for both of them. Maybe marketing for an athletic clothing manufacturer is the sort of position that she's interested in after her competitive career is done. Real work, not showing up at a race in their gear and smiling and signing autographs. That would likely be a heck of a lot more challenging--and more interesting--at Oiselle than it would be at Nike.

The WSJ article says she's got equity in the company now, so Kara may have signed a heck of a lot more than a sponsorship deal for a year or a few: she may have found a passion for a company that will provide her a post-competition career for years to come. Good for her!