I have mixed emotions on the subject of this intriguing thread. Great question Rerun!
I'm not sure how to put my thoughts into words without offending some people. Understand I'm trying to look at this from a business perspective and decide how today's players would fit into a marketing strategy. Don't lose sight of the reasoning behind endorsements. It's not just a "We are your fan, we support you" thing because in business the expectations are a monetary return greater than the endorsement.
Yocoach makes perfect sense pointing out that players from the Olympic teams would be more likely sought after for endorsements, especially the gold medal recipients.. From a marketing standpoint, men's football and men's basketball that have professional potential will be individuals at the forefront. If we have any from softball, it'll still be fastpitch softball's finest and a representation of the sport. The post by yocoach is so spot on I can't rave enough about it. Thank you.
My problem is how the female athletes would be used in a marketing plan. Not only that but how far will a player go to land an endorsement deal to put coin in their pocket. Would a corporation go as far as to use the sex appeal of a player with only a passing thought that she's statistically one of the best softball players in the game? Hell yes they would! Would they have to be one of the game's best to get an endorsement deal? Not if they had the appealing look to help a company target a wider demographic for a different reason. I don't want to see the young ladies in softball exploited for their looks and it being a passing thought that "Oh by the way, this young lady is also a top of her game athlete in softball". This problem will not just be in fastpitch. It'll be in all women's sports.
I'm writing this after reading a news article about the Norwegian Women's handball team being fined by the International Handball Association for not wearing bikini bottoms during competition for the bronze medal contest at the European Beach Handball Championships. Apparently, their rules dictate the female athletes have to wear bikini attire to compete. Instead of bikini bottoms, they opt'ed to wear short spandex shorts and this was considered unacceptable. So, you tell me, while we don't seem to have a uniform problem in college sports or the Olympics, does this mean we could have a uniform problem with corporate endorsements exploiting female players? To get their bang for the buck--------I say it's extremely possible. Are you okay with it????
Let's be honest, smaller endorsement deals for bats, gloves, and shoes to play the game probably won't go there. They are going to target a very narrow demographic of consumers for their products. My points are directed towards those lucrative deals that could be possible that would somewhat equal deals reached by sophomore college quarterbacks. Quarterbacks won't be required to wear skimpy clothing for their money. That would be a different deal and could be out there in today's world. Even in today's liberal life-style and relaxed-gender era, sex still ranks very high in the business world as a way to market a product. What other reason would there be for an international association to have in their rules that in order to compete in our sanctioning you have to wear bikini bottoms? Can we assume this is the reason the women's beach volleyball competitors do the same? Is there an underlying strategy here to market the sport thru sex appeal? I hadn't thought about it till now but that's how naive I am. Sorry for my ignorance.
We've seen women in all sports step out to benefit from their appeal in order to profit. It's nothing new. Perhaps some names from the past will jar a few memories. Jan Stephenson in golf, Chris Evert in tennis, Jennie Finch in softball, Jessica Mendoza in softball, and the list goes on. There are others-----many others------that have taken their appeal to the utmost limits, yet their success in the game of choice was never at the same level as the women mentioned.
This is what bothers me about allowing endorsement deals to college athletes. I'm concerned that female athletes will be approached and will agree to compromise their moral compass, instead of being recognized for their accomplishments. I don't have a dog in the fight but I struggle to believe fastpitch softball can benefit from any of this simply by association.
Just my opinion.
