Postby billybud » Mon Oct 02, 2017 8:47 am
Booster involvement can be a problem in football...as in Shapiro in Miami and others at Mississippi and Alabama.
But, the combination of major corporation payola and collusion with coaches seems to me to be uniquely a basketball phenomenon. A few elite athletes can be spotted early, can make a team nationally competitive, and can be counted on to be signing a big buck NBA contract in the near future with attendant $$$ for their agent.
Sure, there is big advertising money surrounding football...but it is really diluted per player...and is generally not personalized....the next Lebron James coming out of college may have tremendous potential as someone who can sell athletic shoes with his name on it.....not so much Lamar Jackson or Baker Mayfield.
Gatorade does put a lot of money into advertising...but it is really not personalized. They do like to show a lot of sweaty body type generic athletes. Yes...some folks will sell their fame as athletes...like the rush of Stephan Curry endorsements after the NBA finals...but I do think that basketball is fairly unique.
And, sometimes a guy just seems to connect to the public and makes millions on ads...like Shaq...or even Peyton Manning and Brett Farve. But that is fair game after you have a pro career.
“If short hair and good manners won football games, Army and Navy would play for the national championship every year.”