Jeter, A-Rod baseball's most-marketable

David Sweet • E-mail

Baseball is enjoying a boom period.

More than a decade of peaceful labor relations has helped spur record attendance and revenue. New ballparks throughout the country have created a larger revenue stream — in the nation’s capital, Nationals Park opens this season as fans and players happily wave goodbye to creaky RFK Stadium.

Despite the good times, baseball players have not cashed in off the field. The steroid controversy has stunted the growth in the marketing arena and knocked out stars such as Roger Clemens, who once hauled in millions of dollars in endorsements.

“Marketers have to consider the risk that an athlete may some day be accused of inappropriate drug use,” says Timothy Calkins, a marketing professor at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management. “This risk reduces the endorsement value of every athlete, both those who have been accused of steroid use and those who haven't.”

So which players are poised to prosper this season despite the steroid cloud? Here’s a look at baseball’s eight most marketable players in 2008.

1. Derek Jeter: The gold standard in the endorsement game today, Jeter benefits from a clean image and his loyalty to one team throughout his career. He even appeared in a commercial during the Super Bowl, the biggest day of the year for advertising. Still, his $7 million annually in endorsements is a pittance in sports. The smooth shortstop plays for the historic Yankees franchise, is well-known nationally for his World Series appearances, yet he earns the same amount as Denver bad-boy guard Allan Iverson.

2. Alex Rodriguez: His ridiculous move to announce his free agency during the World Series could have been a fatal blow, but he smartly re-signed a lengthy contract with the Yankees, and his miscue has been forgotten. His good looks and sensational play are a marketer’s dream. Yet he and teammate Jeter split the big New York market, hurting both in the endorsement world. The best is yet to come: His expected run at Barry Bonds’ home run mark around the 2013 season will launch him into the marketing stratosphere.

3. Ryan Howard: The Philadelphia Phillies’ slugger has loads of upside. Playing for a strong team in a big market, he’s already inked deals with Verizon, Subway and adidas, among others. His image graces the cover of the “MLB ‘08 The Show” videogame by Sony. Likable and only 28, the one-time National League Rookie of the Year is on the road to a top-notch endorsement career.

4. Ichiro Suzuki: The Seattle outfielder’s inside-the-park home run during the 2007 All-Star Game raised his national profile — which suffers from playing on a mediocre West Coast team — significantly. His marketing prowess is still strongest in the international arena: he’s more interested in deals in his home country of Japan, where he has pacts with Nikko, Cordial and others, than in the U.S.  In fact, he’s the top-ranked baseball player on Sports Illustrated’s International 20, bringing in an estimated $24 million in salary and endorsements last year.

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