When it comes to paid endorsements for athletes, the amount of money that each individual stands to make depends on their likeability, their talent level, and which sports league they play in. In terms of their salaries, there are certain leagues that actually have a salary cap, with the NFL being one such league. For them, it’s a hard salary cap, which means that each and every team can only pay their players up to a certain amount of money per year.
Sometimes, this kind of salary cap leads to unorthodox strategies. One interesting example of this is Tom Brady, who, with the knowledge that his team is limited by the salary cap, has voluntarily taken a pay cut so that the team would be able to pay more money to his teammates. That being said, Tom Brady also knows that due to his star power and recognizability, he has the ability to make up that lost salary with money from various endorsement deals.
It’s important to keep in mind that individual athletes aren’t bound to only having one or two endorsements; they can have as many as they want and are able to acquire. For example, Tom Brady endorses certain car brands. He also endorses certain types of beds. And if he wanted to, he could endorse whatever other products were offered to him, as well. He is a great example of how much tougher hard salary caps are on players that don’t have the appeal or acclaim to secure high-paying endorsements, as a star like Tom Brady can simply make his money elsewhere. Most players don’t have quite as many options.
You can learn more about how athletes build their brand and secure lucrative endorsements, as well as various other topics relating to sports management and global sports, with sports management education. To access online sports management education, you need little more than an internet connection.
