Gatorade signs Paige to multi-year deal

[TeamFirst!]

/it's probably another million dollar deal ( just my guess ), Evidence does show that the Stock X deal was in that range. Wouldn't this probably be at least that much?

 

[Happydad745]

Paige will be able to retire before she plays her first WNBA game...I hope the affects of her signings don't mess up her playing ability.

 

[oldude]

/it's probably another million dollar deal ( just my guess ), Evidence does show that the Stock X deal was in that range. Wouldn't this probably be at least that much?

As an “order of magnitude” Gatorade just renewed their deal with the NFL for $45 million per year. Gatorade earned $7 billion in revenue last year and currently has approximately 67% of the sportsdrink market. I have no idea what that makes Paige’s deal worth, but $1 million is pocket change for Gatorade.

 

[ballerfan]

Gatorade vs BioSteel.

I liked the post, but I don’t know if this is a straight comment or ironic. If it’s straight, I think it’s funny that two UConn players are representing competing sports drinks. If the statement is ironic, Gatorade, with more than $6 billion in sales, is > than BioSteel, with about $6 million. BioSteel and free food from Chipotle are not the same thing as Gatorade. Nor are they StockX, with more than $400 million in revenues. But as with Azzi more generally, she’s played only four games.

It’s hard to imagine that all the endorsement money will not have an effect on Paige’s relationship with other players and with Geno. And I wonder if it will affect her game. It might put a lot of pressure on her to perform.

 

[oldude]

I liked the post, but I don’t know if this is a straight comment or ironic. If it’s straight, I think it’s funny that two UConn players are representing competing sports drinks. If the statement is ironic, Gatorade, with more than $6 billion in sales, is > than BioSteel, with about $6 million. BioSteel and free food from Chipotle are not the same thing as Gatorade. Nor are they StockX, with more than $400 million in revenues. But as with Azzi more generally, she’s played only four games.

It’s hard to imagine that all the endorsement money will not have an effect on Paige’s relationship with other players and with Geno. And I wonder if it will affect her game. It might put a lot of pressure on her to perform.

We never considered whether the money negatively affect the performance of Michael Jordan or Tiger Woods? They thrived on pressure. To quote Billy Jean King, “Pressure is a privilege. It comes to those who earn it.” Paige has earned the “pressure” as well as the endorsements.

 

[Alydar]

Now I wonder if Paige will be drinking straight from the Gaterade bottle during the timeouts instead of the blue ones the team has? Or would that be construed as pitching her sponsor while using the UConn name during the game? P.S. Congrats Ms Bueckers on you new sponsorship deal and may you get many more.

Players cannot display team colors while appearing for an NIL contract. If Gatorade wants to put a picture of her on a bottle she can't be wearing a UConn uniform.

So no need to worry about Gatorade bottles on the sidelines unless Gatorade has a deal with the school.

 

[MilfordHusky]

Paige Buckets has gone BIG TIME!!

Congrats!

 

[Mdoggie]

The random thoughts are hilarious. “I wonder this I wonder that? Good grief people!!

 

[ballerfan]

We never considered whether the money negatively affect the performance of Michael Jordan or Tiger Woods? They thrived on pressure. To quote Billy Jean King, “Pressure is a privilege. It comes to those who earn it.” Paige has earned the “pressure” as well as the endorsements.

You’re right. I’m projecting. I don’t know how athletes handle the pressure. But I did think that about Michael Jordan.

Both Jordan and Woods were negatively impacted by pressure, though maybe not by money. Jordan, for example, by the press and public exposure. Woods after his car accident and divorce. Athletes are human.

 

[oldude]

You’re right. I’m projecting. I don’t know how athletes handle the pressure. But I did think that about Michael Jordan.

Both Jordan and Woods were negatively impacted by pressure, though maybe not by money. Jordan, for example, by the press and public exposure. Woods after his car accident and divorce. Athletes are human.

We really don’t know if Jordan & Woods were negatively impacted by pressure or that they simply proved that, outside of their extraordinary performance in their respective sports, they were human beings with human frailties like all of us.

 

[eebmg]

Personally, I was hoping maybe a few more players across WCBB attracted some NIL deals. The scarcity just makes the spotlight so glaring for Paige.

 

[RockyMTblue2]

Playful or cheeky?



The bucket was a give a way.

 

[oldude]

Personally, I was hoping maybe a few more players across WCBB attracted some NIL deals. The scarcity just makes the spotlight so glaring for Paige.

In a perfect world there would be many NIL opportunities for WCBB players. But from the very start, most folks understood that the vast majority of college athletes were chasing small potatoes as social media influencers or doing adds for local car dealers and pizza joints.

Paige is in a unique situation, even among the handful of college athletes that have signed lucrative brand endorsement deals. I am thrilled for her. But I am reasonably certain that unless she wins a national championship at UConn, she will never be completely satisfied, no matter how much money she earns.

 

[jchusky]

I always thought that she would get many offers and that this could possibly be a distraction. I think when Geno said he was "happy I guess" for Azzi/Paige he knows what deals like this mean. Means more time off the court, more commitments to these "sponsors" and definitely can affect play on the court. Idc what anyone says, try balancing school and basketball and now all of this.

 

[TeamFirst!]

Few people would seem to deserve it more than Paige. She's been a wonderful role model in the sport and that's a huge part of her appeal. I'm sure most people are happy for her and by the way, her deals only help the marketability of her teammates. The more exposure she gets, the more publicity she gets, the better it will be for their marketability. She may end up being the highest paid women in the sport. How about that! I mean all of basketball maybe before she's out of college. We can only hope. It sounds crazy but why not a shoe deal at some point unless that is disallowed as part of Uconn's contract. The prospect for a shoe deal is when she goes pro probably. She may end up leaving earlier than we expected as a result of this, not necessarily later. This is a premier signing but it's probably not in the range of a shoe deal. It is probably a huge deal though. Beyond what most people were expecting from NIL. When you sell an extremely high profit item like the Gatorade product line, and have that level of market saturation, it's all about preservation and maintenance. They WANT emerging young athletes to use their sports drink and who better than Paige for the next generation of young girl athletes. It's beyond athletes even. It's a refreshment also even beyond sports. Paige is clearly cool, positive, successful, and FUN. She's a great signing for Gatorade. She's a leader of what is it ...Generation Z?

 

[jchusky]

Few people would seem to deserve it more than Paige. She's been a wonderful role model in the sport and that's a huge part of her appeal. I'm sure most people are happy for her and by the way, her deals only help the marketability of her teammates. The more exposure she gets, the more publicity she gets, the better it will be for their marketability. She may end up being the highest paid women in the sport. How about that! I mean all of basketball maybe before she's out of college. We can only hope. It sounds crazy but why not a shoe deal at some point unless that is disallowed as part of Uconn's contract. The prospect for a shoe deal is when she goes pro probably. She may end up leaving earlier than we expected as a result of this, not necessarily later. This is a premier signing but it's probably not in the range of a shoe deal. It is probably a huge deal though. Beyond what most people were expecting from NIL. When you sell an extremely high profit item like the Gatorade product line, and have that level of market saturation, it's all about preservation and maintenance. They WANT emerging young athletes to use their sports drink and who better than Paige for the next generation of young girl athletes. It's beyond athletes even. It's a refreshment also even beyond sports. Paige is clearly cool, positive, successful, and FUN. She's a great signing for Gatorade. She's a leader of what is it ...Generation Z?

Gatorade has been around for decades, this isn't something new. Someone mentioned Biosteel, now that would be something different because not many have heard of it.

 

[ballerfan]

Gatorade has been around for decades, this isn't something new. Someone mentioned Biosteel, now that would be something different because not many have heard of it.

Jchuskie, I don’t know why you are dismissing Gatorade as something not new, so I’m not responding to what you said. Maybe I would agree with you if I knew. But since you mentioned BioSteel, a company Azzi has an endorsement deal with, I want to respond to other people who regularly say, in relation to Paige, what about Azzi? Or they couch discussions about Paige in a larger idea of Paige and Azzi or Paige vs. Azzi. As if there are competing camps, Team Paige and Team Azzi.

BioSteel is a tiny company. Azzi’s endorsement deal with Chipotle gives her free food. Azzi is a great player who might be as good or better than Paige one day. I hope so. But for the moment she isn’t, and her endorsement deals in relation to Gatorade are insignificant.

Paige’s deal with Gatorade, a multibillion dollar company with a lot of influence in the sports world, is huge. Paige is the first college athlete of any sport, men’s or women’s, that Gatorade has chosen for this. It’s a lot of money and exposure. According to some sources, Paige is going to be one of the highest paid players of any college sport, men’s or women’s. She can share this exposure with the WNBA, which needs it. And as someone else said, Paige’s new fame can help UConn generally and bring attention to other UConn athletes, including Azzi.

 

[jchusky]

Jchuskie, I don’t know why you are dismissing Gatorade as something not new, so I’m not responding to what you said. Maybe I would agree with you if I knew. But since you mentioned BioSteel, a company Azzi has an endorsement deal with, I want to respond to other people who regularly say, in relation to Paige, what about Azzi? Or they couch discussions about Paige in a larger idea of Paige and Azzi or Paige vs. Azzi. As if there are competing camps, Team Paige and Team Azzi.

BioSteel is a tiny company. Azzi’s endorsement deal with Chipotle gives her free food. Azzi is a great player who might be as good or better than Paige one day. I hope so. But for the moment she isn’t, and her endorsement deals in relation to Gatorade are insignificant.

Paige’s deal with Gatorade, a multibillion dollar company with a lot of influence in the sports world, is huge. Paige is the first college athlete of any sport, men’s or women’s, that Gatorade has chosen for this. It’s a lot of money and exposure. According to some sources, Paige is going to be one of the highest paid players of any college sport, men’s or women’s. She can share this exposure with the WNBA, which needs it. And as someone else said, Paige’s new fame can help UConn generally and bring attention to other UConn athletes, including Azzi.

hope you realize that deals are not given because of how "good" someone you think a player is. Fyi the most deals have gone to 2 gymnasts: Suni Lee, and Dunne. And for the women bb the 1st to get a deal where the Cavinder twins from Fresno state who didn't even make the tournament.

 

[ballerfan]

hope you realize that deals are not given because of how "good" someone you think a player is. Fyi the most deals have gone to 2 gymnasts: Suni Lee, and Dunne. And for the women bb the 1st to get a deal where the Cavinder twins from Fresno state who didn't even make the tournament.

It's good that you bring that up. It's kind of depressing, from a sports point of view, that the Cavinder sisters are getting so much attention. I hope not more than Aliyah Boston. But in general, how "good" a player is has been an important reason why many players are getting endorsement deals. It seems unlikely that Azzi's deal with BioSteel, for example, would have happened had she not been considered a generational talent.

 

[oldude]

hope you realize that deals are not given because of how "good" someone you think a player is. Fyi the most deals have gone to 2 gymnasts: Suni Lee, and Dunne. And for the women bb the 1st to get a deal where the Cavinder twins from Fresno state who didn't even make the tournament.

So Suni Lee’s deal had nothing to do with the fact that she won the Olympic All-Around gold medal in gymnastics? Beyond that, I strongly suspect that the Cavinder twins and Dunne will have a very limited period of time as social influencers before they are replaced by the next pretty faces.

Paige is a generational athlete with crossover appeal that major brands will flock to. Athletes like Michael Jordan and Tiger Woods were such individuals. More recently, Simone Biles and Katie Ledecky come to mind.

Gatorade has been around for many years. However, I strongly suspect that their marketing folks recognized an opportunity to target a market (young girls/teenagers) where the brand is not as strong as they want. Gatorade’s other female athletes: Serena, EDD, Abby Wambach target an older demographic.

Gatorade recently signed Sidney McGlaughlin, who has some appeal to younger women coming off her 2-gold medals in Tokyo. But the appeal of Olympic track stars waxes and wanes every 4 years. Paige will be around CBB for at least the next 3 years competing for championships, while dazzling all of us with her individual brilliance and exuberant personality.

 

[Skeets]

Congrats to Paige! Is she making more than Geno?

 

[hoopsfan22]

Congrats to Paige! Is she making more than Geno?

I don't think there has been any dollar amounts disclosed on any of these NIL deals. The contracts are always described in nebulous hand wavy terms e.g. to promote growth in women's basketball whatever that means. The only one that seems to have a direct benefit spelled out in her deal is Azzi with unlimited free food from Chipotle. There just isn't a whole lot of transparency in the deal making. For all we know Paige is now earning between $0 and $100 million a year in NIL deal money plus how many ever Gatorades she can drink in a year. Geno makes $2.7 million per year, so it is possible Paige makes more than her coach - probably not the last time in her career that will happen.

 

[jchusky]

because they don't care about the team, they care about followers.

 

[oldude]

because they don't care about the team, they care about followers.

Who exactly are you referring to?