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Executive Education

The sports star as business brand

By Peter Walker for CNN
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LONDON, England (CNN) -- The idea of sports stars being high-earning entrepreneurs -- even global brands -- in their own right is relatively commonplace nowadays.

In fact, such are the sums paid to top sports people in the modern era that some business schools even offers specialist advice to them, for example an innovative scheme to assist for NFL players (read the Executive Education story about this here).

However, as part of their research role, business schools are also looking at the wider phenomenon -- how sports stars become business icons, and the risks and opportunities relevant to this.

One professor has contributed by writing a just-published book about the man he deems one of the pioneers of this field, particularly for African American sports people -- Sugar Ray Robinson.

The famous middleweight of the 1940s and 50s, considered by many the greatest pound-for-pound fighter of all time, was exceptional for another reason, according to Kenneth Shropshire, professor of legal studies and business ethics at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School.

"Robinson is really the first in this modern era of the African American who is being himself and being broadly accepted across the color line," says Shropshire, author of "Being Sugar Ray: The Life of Sugar Ray Robinson, America's Greatest Boxer and First Celebrity Athlete."

Shropshire adds: "He crossed racial lines and he was the first. This was during the late 1940s and early 1950s when he accomplished this."

When sport meets business

The other appeal of Robinson for a business school professor is that at the peak of his career he was also an entrepreneur, owning a series of ventures in New York City's Harlem district, including a restaurant, lingerie outlet, beauty salon and real estate company.

"This was one of the things, being at a business school, that drove me to think about looking at Robinson as this athlete entrepreneur and trying to see what drove him to do this and how did he pull this off," Shropshire says.

"What is really different about what Robinson did is that he did this while he was the active athlete on top of his game. It was amazing that he pulled it off. Now when you ask, how successful was he -- well, it didn't last forever. The businesses did not continue to thrive after he finished boxing. "

In the current era, there is one figure who epitomizes the global collision of sports and celebrity better than any other, even though he remains relatively unknown in the United States: David Beckham.

The English soccer player made headlines around the world after announcing his move later this year from current team, Real Madrid of Spain, to the Los Angeles Galaxy in a contract worth $250 million over a five-year period.

However astonishing this figure, it is business as usual for a player who has combined a top-level playing career with dozens of celebrity endorsements, a huge income from a share in his own image rights and the PR bonus of a pop star wife, former Spice Girl Victoria Beckham.

But can one man along recoup the investment for the relatively low-profile Major League Soccer (MLS)?

"It's risky. There's always a risk when so much is riding on an individual, when everything is centered around the brand of one person," says Wharton marketing professor Lisa Bolton.

"But the thing about Beckham is that he can cut through the clutter. The team doesn't have to feature him with its own advertisements in order to raise awareness of soccer. And he is already making headlines in entertainment news. It's a good fit for sports as entertainment, particularly L.A. entertainment."

According to another marketing professor at the school, Americus Reed II, Beckham transcends any other sports star in global reach.

"Beckham's global appeal is so large; it's a crazy, 'Beatle-esque' kind of thing," he says.

"People who aren't even curious about soccer are suddenly interested. Once you cross that threshold and achieve that critical mass, the curiosity about you as a brand builds on itself. It is extremely rare."


story.beckham.jpg

The man, the brand: David Beckham.

FACT BOX

FT MBA Rankings
1. Wharton, U.S.
2. Columbia, U.S.
3. Harvard, U.S.
4. Stanford GSB, U.S.
5. London Business School, UK
6. Chicago GSB, U.S.
7. Insead, France/Singapore
8. Stern, NYU, U.S.
9. Tuck, Dartmouth, U.S.
10. Yale, U.S.
Source: Financial Times 2007

FACT BOX

MBA BASICS

The classic MBA is a two-year full-time program. Accelerated and distance learning MBAs are increasingly popular.

A typical MBA student has several years' work experience and is in their late 20s.

Those who take an Executive MBA, or EMBA, tend to be older, more senior managers.

Courses are expensive, but the rewards are high -- some new MBAs now get a $100,000 basic salary, according to a survey.
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