When we looked at the tennis gear of the champions, we mentioned Maria Sharapova as being the face of the newest Cole Haan collection. At that time, we’ve only spoken about their agreement with Nike to incorporate their advanced technology into the Cole Haan apparel and footwear. Now we are going to take a look at what does this contract mean for Maria Sharapova: it places her on the world’s best paid female athlete position, according to Forbes magazine. Maria is ranked no 76 in Forbes’ The Celebrity 100 Special Report of year 2009, followed by Venus Williams in the 77th position and by Ana Ivanovic in the 79th spot.
Maria Sharapova Sponsors Handbags
Nike is surely a sport superstars magnet, as they’ve managed to attract on their side names like Tiger Woods, Ronaldo, Maria Sharapova, Derek Jeter or LeBron James. Tiger Woods is the best paid athlete and he’s ranking 5th in the Forbes Celebrities top 100, after Angelina Jolie, Oprah Winfrey, Madonna and Beyonce Knowles. Nike had a lot to do with Tiger’s position in that list.
Sharapova’s money race started after she won the Wimbledon, in 2004. First Canon, then Motorola dragged her on their side, then Tag Heuer, followed by Nike, thus enabling her to make $18.2 million in as little as one year’s time. There are countries in the world where the entire working population isn’t making that much altogether in one year. Sharapova’s performance appears even more outstanding if we look at Sports Illustrated International 20 list, where she’s the only woman. Although it appears like those top athletes live an easy life, performance doesn’t come without hard work. Behind each minute of glamour there are countless hours of sweating. Behind each endorsement contract there are frustrations and inflexible rules. The more famous you become, the harder it is to enjoy the simple moments of life with your family or your friends, because your privacy is blown away by paparazzi and by fans who want you to give them a sign and to let yourself photographed wherever you go. Basically, you have no private life anymore. Why do you think celebrities pay so much for vacations on private islands? Just because they can’t have all simple things that come free for unknown mortals like me and you. So, the next time you’ll feel envious on millionaires like Tiger Woods or Maria Sharapova, try to figure out if you can give away all small joys of your childhood and of your youth, if you can spend three quarters of your life training, only to discover that you can’t enjoy privacy for a very long time even after you retire from the public life. Then think that for each athlete that makes it to the top, there are millions who work just as hard, but who never make it. Then think of those who make it but get killed by their passion like Ayrton Senna and many others. Are you still willing to switch places?