1. What were the key steps in the early stages of Maria’s career development?
The early stages of Sharapova’s career development began with her parents, and their willingness to support and push Sharapova in Tennis at an early age. Her parents moved to the United States when Maria was eight to seek ‘world-class coaching’. In the U.S Sharapova attended a top tennis academy and was able to hone her skill to where she started getting noticed as a tennis prodigy. She put her first mark in tennis as a thirteen year old when she won The Girls 16-and-under Eddie Herr Championship.
2. From the case how does the Business of Sports impact players’ careers (outside their sports activities)? Establishing a brand is key in any athletes career, in the case of Maria Sharapova she had ‘team sharapova’ that helped her build her brand. Like in Sharapova’s talent and winning are at the forefront of it all, without it it is impossible to build a power brand. Maria had all the talent in the world and winning the 2004 Wimbledon she exploded as tennis superstar on the court but also off the court as Max Eisenbud said “my phone did not stop ringing”. An athlete takes that winning image and sales it to corporations as the perfect person to the face of their brand. Athletes apart from their winning on the court, they have endorsements, licensing deals and merchandising the players earn huge amounts of money in the business of sports. Every endorsement is carefully chosen to fit and build an athlete’s power brand and that image that is built is what companies invest on when they sign an athlete to sale their brand.
3. The case spends several pages on the Tennis sector of Sports. Summarize in a few paragraphs the key elements of Tennis industry.
4. What part did Max Eisenbud play in the development of Maria’s career?
Max Eisenbud played an enormous part in Sharapova’s career, he started by managing everyday hassles that a young tennis star would have. Eisenbud would deal with Maria’s travel plans, visa permissions, accommodations etc.. He knew from the beginning that she was going to be a tennis superstar and he was going to be by her side helping her in business decisions. Max worked hard to earn her trust and as Sharapova said he became “half family, half agent”
5. How did IMG evolve its importance to the sports and talent business, specifically in tennis.
IMG became invaluable in sports and talent business, specifically tennis by doing anything possible for tennis athletes to maximize their potential on and off the court. IMG created the Bolletieri Tennis Academy where the best young tennis athletes can train a develop their skill, IMG did not only make sure their tennis players succeeded on the court but as well as off the court. ING help prestigious events that put their athletes in the eyes of everyone and made them household names. IMG has agents that make sure the athlete is well taken care of, they book appearances, manege travel, explore licensing deals and negotiating endorsement deals. IMG also relayed on Salespeople whose job was to sale the athlete to corporations like Car , Food, clothing companies, they assist the agent in building the athletes brand. IMG’s team-oriented, global approach to managing world class tennis athletes have made them indispensable in an athlete’s career.
6. Maria’s Future – Use the exhibits and case discussion to analyze the tennis star’s next major steps. Is this a good direction, are there precedents for this process, or are we breaking new ground?
7. Is there an alternative scenario that you would recommend if you were her agent, her manager or her parent?
8. Outside of the scope of the case, how do you think Maria has been doing with career in the last 5 years from an endorsement portfolio perspective?
In the last 5 years Maria Sharapova has grown her brand to great heights and expanding her endorsement portfolio to become the highest paid female athlete in the world. She recently branched out in her new company Sugarpova which is high end candies, as well as signed a three year deal to endorse Porsche Automobile.
9. What are you high level thoughts on the role social media is playing in the celebrity endorsement space and how has that changed the landscape? Social media has changed the world of celebrity and athlete endorsements in both a positive and negative form. In one way it is positive because it has allowed athletes and celebrities direct contact to their fans and followers, making it easier for them their marketing campaigns to reach their audience directly from the horses mouth. People thanks to social media feel closer than ever to their favorite celebrities, and as a result celebrities are able to promote themselves and their endorsements directly to their fans. Celebrities and athletes now do not have to use conventional media to promote their message, they can control how and when they want it to come out thanks to social media. Before a celebrity would go on hundreds of tv and radio shows to make an announcement but now with Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram they reach hundreds of million of people with just one post. In another hand what makes social media so amazing for celebrities it is also the downfall. Celebrities can gain fame through social media but some can’t control themselves on what they say and post, making corporations aware and worried if they are the right person to be promoting their brand.