Posted on 03/08/2016 8:45:57 AM PST by SeekAndFind
Maria Sharapova's sponsors are quickly distancing themselves from the tennis star after after she said she tested positive for the recently banned drug meldonium. Nike was first to suspend its deal with the Russian athlete. That deal was worth at least $12.5 million a year, her most lucrative contract.
UK-based sports marketing and sponsorship consultant Nigel Currie told Business Insider the deal was worth an estimated $100 million over eight years Nike's biggest deal for a female athlete. There were most likely bonuses tied into the deal too, though no details on these have been published.
Sharapova is the world's highest-paid female athlete, earning $29.7 million in prize money and endorsements between June 2014 and June 2015, according to Forbes.
In a statement, Nike said: "We are saddened and surprised by the news about Maria Sharapova. We have decided to suspend our relationship with Maria while the investigation continues. We continue to monitor the situation."
The Swiss watchmaker TAG Heuer announced it would not renew its deal with the 28-year-old.
A TAG Heuer representative sent Business Insider this statement: "Maria Sharapova was under contract with Tag Heuer until December 31[st,] 2015. We had been in talks to extend our collaboration. In view of the current situation, the Swiss watch brand has suspended negotiations."
The relationship had gone back since 2004.
Porsche announced on Tuesday it was also suspending its deal.
(Excerpt) Read more at businessinsider.com ...
I agree with you. And I am no way upholding Maria, I think she should definitely get the book, thrown at her but what I am saying if it’s Williams, than the media, and ESPN. Will cry racism, and all kinds of stuff. To give her cover.
Examining closely the evidence you submitted concerning Ms. Sharapova. Will get back to you, uh, sometime.
I saw it on the internet, so it must be true.....
OK, well, it certainly doesn’t look like her. Sharapova’s face has a softer look than that. Maybe a bad picture, or else the wrong picture got put in there.
She should have hired Hans and Franz rather than taking Boar’s hormones, it probably made her grumpy.
http://www.fxnetworks.com/shows/the-americans/episodes
But Nike kept the loser Tiger?...
I read the drug is taken in combo with liprinosol (Blood Pressure Medicine) for exercise enhancement. Sounds dangerous to take ACE inhibitor.
I have a guest room.
My take too. Her 70 million Nike contract is for 8 years but has only two years left on it. So Nike dropped her yesterday to save money
Is it really fair that a person taking a prescribed medication can’t continue to take that medication when the rules change? I’m totally anti-drug. But this goes too far. There should at least be a grace period while a person finds a different prescribed drug to take.
I can rehabilitate her.
What was her management company doing not alerting her to the new regulations ? Isn’t that why they get 20% of the earnings and the sponsorship money ?
Isn’t this a prescribed heart medication she’s been taking for 10 years?
Tennis just banned this as of January 2016.
As long as the prescription is for a true medical condition and not performance enhancement, cut her some slack.
These athletes make more from endorsement deals than from the sports they play, yes they need to win to get to where they get them, but once they have them to use seems silly to me.
Yes, eventually the sponsors will move on to someone else when you fade, but if you get caught doing this stuff the money evaporates almost instantly.
Personally I’ve can’t think of a single product I’ve ever purchased in my life because of any celebrity endorsing it, but it must work or they wouldn’t pay these guys.
If this is true, and not spin, then this is much ado about nothing.
She says she was unaware that the law had changed. I’m giving her the benefit of the doubt, since that can not be proven or disproven.
If you’re trying to recover from a sports injury, I would think there would be a lot of drugs you might take that would get you in trouble with the rules.
It was posted with the wrong parameters so it was distorted.
I agree.
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