Today the news broke in track and field circles that 400h phenom Sydney McLaughlin just signed with the Beverly Hills big-hitter talent agency William Morris Endeavor.
This means only one thing, the McLaughlin's mean business, heads are gonna roll, signing records are going down, and NIKE and Adidas are going to rethink the offers they've already put on the table.
WME represented Felix, and the William's sister but there's no record of them ever signing a young athlete fresh into the start of their pro careers. This means big things, not just for Sydney but for the sport of Track & Field in general.
Watch out world, there's a new Bolt in town.
McLaughlin signs with big WME: Biggest shoe contract in track history about to go down.
Report Thread
-
-
Nope.
-
I hope Sydney stays injury free and continues to inspire high school athletes to pursue sports!
-
Allbeury wrote:
Nope.
... You're in denial if you don't think her signing is going to be record breaking. Not only is she on track (pun intended) to break the WR before she's 21, she's just about the most marketable athlete out there. Throw WME in there as her representation, the endorsement deals are going to pour in. -
Nice Try. wrote:
Allbeury wrote:
Nope.
... You're in denial if you don't think her signing is going to be record breaking. Not only is she on track (pun intended) to break the WR before she's 21, she's just about the most marketable athlete out there. Throw WME in there as her representation, the endorsement deals are going to pour in.
This.
She has 104,000 Twitter Followers and 270,000 on Instagram, that's after just 1 year of College and zero pro races so far. Plus she is GOOD at track. If she does well in World Champs next year she will be the face of the 2020 Olympics. -
Not sure about how record-breaking, but I’m almost positive she’ll be the most popular American track athlete we’ve ever seen.
-
Well she may not be signed by Nike or Adidas as Reebok or ASICS could throw more money at the contract like what happened to Ches
-
rare wrote:
Not sure about how record-breaking, but I’m almost positive she’ll be the most popular American track athlete we’ve ever seen.
Maybe; she's no Galen Rupp. -
Nice Try. wrote:
Allbeury wrote:
Nope.
... You're in denial if you don't think her signing is going to be record breaking. Not only is she on track (pun intended) to break the WR before she's 21, she's just about the most marketable athlete out there. Throw WME in there as her representation, the endorsement deals are going to pour in.
Did you really need to go "(pun intended)"?
Worst post in Letsrun.com history. -
Throw out some numbers if you think it's going to be record breaking...
$3mil/year base?
$5mil/year?
Curious -
$500k per year for 5 years.
-
Did you really need to go "(pun intended)"?
Worst post in Letsrun.com history.
Come on that is a very high bar. -
Did you guys see the video of her whipping her hair back and winking at the camera?
OHHHHH...MYYYYYY...GODDDDDDD
If women could get men pregnant, every man who saw that video would be pregnant. Try to watch it without fainting. -
10 yr/ $200 million offer coming? 2nd coming of MJ.
-
WME managed Serena Williams (Nike) Felix (Nike) and Djokovic (Asics).
My money is still on NIKE. It's got to be a helluva deal to pass up Nike or Adidas. -
https://twitter.com/flotrack/status/1005520884566593536?lang=en
Director of photography on this shoot created a powerful marketing tool for SydMcL. -
epicnikemoney wrote:
10 yr/ $200 million offer coming? 2nd coming of MJ.
That is some killer weed you've been smoking. Please pass that joint to me. -
Storm Brewing wrote:
Today the news broke in track and field circles that 400h phenom Sydney McLaughlin just signed with the Beverly Hills big-hitter talent agency William Morris Endeavor.
This means only one thing, the McLaughlin's mean business, heads are gonna roll, signing records are going down, and NIKE and Adidas are going to rethink the offers they've already put on the table.
WME represented Felix, and the William's sister but there's no record of them ever signing a young athlete fresh into the start of their pro careers. This means big things, not just for Sydney but for the sport of Track & Field in general.
Watch out world, there's a new Bolt in town.
No. -
I am happy for her.
She will be clearing $10-$15M/year on sponsorship.
I am thinking -
NIKE, $2M/year base
Gatorade, Samsung, Amazon, etc. -
I agree with the $2M/base number only for a couple of reasons -
1. adidas was recently downgraded. They've hit a wall. So, yes, they could over-spend to ramp back up again and pay Sydney $5-$10M/base, but we are in a era of prudence in sport spending.
2. NIKE is also struggling. They are single-digit growth in NA, and once again, when you're paying Ronaldo $30M/year alone to wear shoes, they are pretty tapped out in terms of major spends after getting the NFL, NBA, MLB, and all the other major soccer clubs.. those are close to billion dollar investments. Even Lebron is $1B.
3. There is no way ASICS, Brooks, Under Armour, New Balance, etc., pay the money necessary to land McLaughlin. They don't have the resources.
4. PUMA could be a player. They've been on the up, but not sure what has happened with Bolt's contract, which was in the $7-10M/year range. If they have exited that contract or downgraded it to ambassador status, she may be in play.
5. Li NING or any Chinese manufacturer (361)... could surprise. They have billions to spend and could be uber aggressive to land the next face of track and field. However, would be up to Sydney to take the money or not (like many athletes now face, i.e, D Wade $25M/year to play in China; Donovan, etc.)