The NBA has a total of 448 players on the roster this season, and excluding the stars who endorse Chinese sports brands, only 10 in total have personal signed shoes, accounting for about 2.2%. There is no doubt that the person who holds this highest honor will also bring incredible business value to the brand behind it.

Many fans mistakenly believe that only big-name stars will receive endorsement contracts for sports brands. Actually, almost everyone in the league has some connection to the sneaker brand.

In the past 20 years, Nike has 68% of the league's contracted players, and 305 players wear their equipment; Adidas has also been expanding its team of signings, currently with 70 players, accounting for about 16%; Nike's brand Jordan accounted for 6.5%; With a 3.8% share of the newly rising UA, it is worth noting that Curry, who holds the MVP title, has almost single-handedly increased the value of the UA brand. The remaining about 5% of the contracted players were divided between Anta, Peak, Li Ning, Reebok, etc.

▲The distribution chart of the number of NBA player brand endorsements. (Source: Yahoo Sports).

In order to expand the brand influence and win a higher brand recognition than similar products, major companies have developed a brilliant signing strategy.

Initially, the brand's agents will target the emerging rookies in the annual draft, offering them a sneaker sponsorship contract for three to four years, usually just entering the NBA. Moreover, in order not to make a loss-making transaction, brands usually choose to decide whether to sign after the draft, first, to evaluate their performance in summer league, and second, to understand the attention of their team and the popularity of the market, and then to give a contract based on the situation of all parties.

When a rookie's shoe contract is about to end, there is usually a "match clause" where the rest of the brands can make a matching offer for that player. In the 2015 NBA Draft, Russell of Ohio University and Winslow of Duke University were selected by the Los Angeles Lakers and Miami Heat, respectively, to get a more lucrative shoe contract.

Generally, rookie shoe contracts are worth $200,000-$700,000. Of course, there is no shortage of high-priced rookie contracts like Andrew Wiggins, and Adidas' five-year, $11 million contract has made him one of the top stars of the Crazy Light series.

▲Adi Crazy Light series has big-name stars like Wiggins to help.

In recent years, brands have taken a more long-term view. Agents will dive into college basketball leagues or AAU basketball tournaments (American Amateur Athletic Federation) to identify high-level players, get them to wear their own brands, and negotiate agreements with talented people who will become professional basketball players.

Later, agents have stopped fighting for hot rookies, but have extended their tentacles to high school leagues and even 6- and 7-year-olds. The reason is simple, just one visionary signing is enough to make an agent a lot of money, and the high rate of return makes them willing to make a bet on it.

As it turns out, this is not just on paper. Each summer, 24 of the nation's best high school players gather at the Elite 24 All-Star Game. In 2013, UA as a sponsor had already begun to use the opportunity to approach rising stars such as Moodier, and then acquired them in a promising deal. Two years later, nine of those players came out on top in the 2015 first-round draft, a testament to the strategy of brands racing to chase potential players.

A player's position in the team and the influence of the team are central factors in the value of the contract. If it's a small-ball city team like Orlando or Utah, the player gets a contract of about $50,000; For players who play for strong teams such as Los Angeles, Houston, New York or Chicago, the contract value triples; The top players on top teams will have a big contract that can cost between $40 and $1 million.

In return, the players will cooperate with the brand to shoot advertisements to promote it, thereby strengthening the brand and creating higher commercial value for the company. During the Christmas season in 2015, Nike launched a commercial called "Bring Your Game", which featured a number of Nike basketball superstars, including Durant, Kobe, Irving, James, Paul George, etc. The Christmas blockbuster garnered more than 4 million views just 3 days after it was released on YouTube. Basketball shoes have always been Nike's most relied on product line, and these NBA stars are Nike's sales "money printing machine".

▲Nike's commercial "Bring Your Game".

It's not just advertising endorsements, players are also accountable to their sponsors on the field. Big-name stars like Durant change shoes every game or two (or even every game) to ensure the exposure of the sponsor's products and bring more sales of the relevant shoes. IT IS EVEN RUMORED THAT DURING HIS SECOND TRIPLE CHAMPIONSHIP, JORDAN HAD A CRAZY MOVE TO CHANGE HIS SHOES EVERY QUARTER, THE MAIN PURPOSE OF WHICH WAS TO INCREASE THE EXPOSURE OF THE AIR JORDAN SERIES.

The role of the superstar effect in the brand to occupy the market is self-evident, and there is a saying in the business rules of the BA Alliance: the center does not sell shoes. Due to the characteristics of their own position, the sneakers of the big center are more enveloping and stable, and the shape is mostly thicker, so the sales are not optimistic. As a result, brands tend to focus on outside stars when formulating marketing strategies, and interior players are often the ones whose contracts are relatively shabby.

"Brands are going to focus more on the good defenders and wingers." Chris Grancio, Adidas' general manager of basketball, said that it was he who poached the "beard" from rival Nike with a $200 million contract Grancio said, "Harden's unique style and popularity on and off the court have made him one of the most recognizable stars in the sports world, and he and Adi will have an incredible future." ”

Targeting the league's top point guards is a common strategy among major sneaker brands, and UA is the biggest beneficiary of them. Warriors star Curry's abilities have been underrated, but Kris Stone, UA's head of operations for basketball, has the insight to sign the talented shooter for the company.

▲ Curry, the popular Warriors star now.

Sure enough, the double accolades of the new MVP and NBA championship have made Curry popular in the past two seasons. Under his leadership, UA's sneaker sales have skyrocketed by 754%, its market share has grown dramatically, its brand awareness has also increased significantly, and it has the tendency to rewrite the NBA sneaker sponsorship market.

Owning your own sneakers is a high-level contract. These contracts are usually paid quarterly, and more than 50 players in the league have their own color or logo for their shoes. Examples include Griffin's Air Jordan 1 PE, Lowry's adidas Crazylight Boost 2015 PE, and Aldridge's Air Jordan XX9 PE. Let's talk about Curry, the hottest rising star in the NBA today, whose Under Armour Curry PE limited edition sold out instantly after its release on the website, making it one of the best-selling sneakers in the league today.

A signed sneaker contract is no longer just an endorsement contract, but a partnership between a player and a brand, and a symbol of a player's status in the NBA. Players with this honor will receive sneakers designed by top designers based on their exclusive needs and personal stories, and will have in-depth cooperation with brands on product design, marketing and other aspects.

More than 300 people in the NBA wear Nike shoes, PE models are endless, but only seven players have the top honor for this shoe: Nike's James, Kobe, Durant and Irving, and Nike's Jordan brand has signed shoes such as Paul, Westbrook and Carmelo Anthony. Then there's Adidas' Ross and Lillard (Harden's signature shoe will be officially released in 2017) and UA's Curry.

▲Zhan Huang's signature sneakers have always led the sneaker sales list of NBA stars.

The NBA is still dominated by players like James and Durant, and Zhan Huang's signature sneakers have consistently led the NBA star in shoe sales, reaching a staggering 340 million in 2014. Although Bryant's sales volume is not the highest, he has always been the key to Nike's market in China. Adi's Rose has been in a bit of a decline recently, but the sales of the D Rose series are not bad. The others have received good reviews, although not explosive in terms of sales figures.

Curry is still the new king of the signature shoe market, with the Curry One being launched in February 2015 and mostly sold out on Under Armour's website. It's hard to say to what extent a Stephen Curry will be able to challenge Nike's position, but UA is so confident that they have applied for a trademark related to Curry and are working on preparing their personal brand.

There are also players who have chosen to collaborate with Chinese brands to launch their own signature sneakers, such as Li Ning's Wade Way and Anta's KT1 for Thompson.

▲ANTA's signature sneaker for Thompson.

In China, where there are 300 million basketball enthusiasts, the huge potential of the basketball footwear market is self-evident. Although the international reach of Chinese brands is not strong enough, the signature sneaker is the most coveted thing for all basketball players, and they even sacrifice other interests for it.

If the players have good results, the shoes will naturally sell well. As a result, the rules of such contracts are also more stringent, and all terms and measures are linked to the performance and performance of the players. First, the number of games is a basic clause, and it is generally stipulated that at least 60 of the 82 regular season games must be played, and if you miss too many games throughout the season, you can lose millions of dollars. On the other hand, if you can be elected MVP, you will get an additional bonus of several million.

For a long time, there has been a general consensus on the choice of sneaker spokesperson, that is, to choose the most explosive and characteristic players. Because these players have more room to play and will have the ball in their hands at key moments of the game, they will receive more attention. This is also important to brand owners.

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