Produced by | Huxiu Commercial Consumer Group
Author | Miao Zhengqing
Question picture | Visual China
Tennis player Federer lost the curtain call.
Businessman Federer won the event.
htmlOn the evening of September 23, the retirement battle of the tennis legend Federer was staged in London's North Greenwich Stadium: In the Laver Cup Tennis, Federer and his career destiny opponent Nadal teamed up to form a European team, against two American players, the world team composed of Sok and Tiafou . After a 150-minute fierce battle, Federer's European team lost 1:2 to the World Team.Laval Cup was founded by Federer and others in 2017. Federer owns the agency Team8, which is the shareholder of Laval Cup event, . The Laver Cup is held every year in the form of "star team doubles", and all participants are tennis stars. In the Laver Cup, Federer and Nadal joined forces three times in total: the 2017 first game, the 2019 third game and the 5th game last night.
As this year's Laval Cup became Federer's curtain call, the tickets for the Laval Cup have risen: the VIP ticket price is as high as 580,000 pounds, or about 4.4915 million .
On September 15, Federer announced his "retirement" through Instagram and other platforms, and and announced in advance that the fifth Laver Cup held in London will be the "retirement show" . From the lineup, it can be seen that Federer's careful preparation for this competition: except for Nadal, Djokovic,
, Murray participated in this competition, and made this Laver Cup a luxurious competition "gathering the four kings". (Huxiu Note: The four kings of the tennis world have all participated in the European team this time)
Federer's retirement also makes September the "moon of farewell to superstars" in the tennis world. On September 3, 41-year-old Serena Williams officially retired after completing the last battle of his career. There are similarities with Federer's retirement: Serena Williams also announced his retirement through social media early and officially announced the "chapel match", while ticket prices for related events have risen and it is difficult to get a ticket.
top professional tennis player, is a business darling. Take Serena Williams as an example. The legendary tennis player who came out of the slum has a net worth of more than $260 million. According to statistics from " Forbes ", Serena Williams has at least 18 top brands endorsed by, including Gucci, Procter & Gamble , and Nike. Tennis events are highly dependent on star players. As a "report", star players will share the bonuses they receive through the event better. According to statistics, Serena Williams' cumulative professional bonuses in the WTA Tour event have exceeded US$94 million. The same situation also occurred to the king Federer. In 2020, Federer ranked first among tennis players in the "Athlete Income Ranking". According to statistics, Federer's cumulative professional bonuses for his career events are about US$130 million, and his business endorsement income is about 10 times the professional bonus.
On Federer's personal official website, you can find the top endorsement brands that Federer currently owns, including Rolex , Mercedes- Mercedes-Mercedes-Benz , luggage brand RIMOWA and other big brands.
In fact, top tennis players are also top "product managers". They not only need to polish their "competitive products", but also need to manage their own business teams like running a company, and continuously amplify the commercial value of their personal IP. For example, why did Federer choose London as his curtain call? There are players' emotions and "money never sleeps".
Business genius Federer
Federer carefully selected London.
Among the main tennis events held in the world, London has built the most "luxury" tennis business ecosystem with the " Wimbledon ". (Wimbledon: Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, England)
, founded in 1877, is one of the four major slams events in . Because it is the oldest world event in the world, Wimbledon's audience is mainly contemporary celebrities and old-school giants. has led to Wimbledon becoming a hot commodity in the eyes of luxury goods .
You can feel Wimbledon's special business attributes from one detail: among the four Grand Slam events, Wimbledon has the lowest after-tax bonus.In other words, players who come to Wimbledon generally do not for the prize money for the event, but to increase the overall commercial value through participation and win more endorsement cooperation monetization.
In this mode, Wimbledon attracts extremely high quality players and audiences. As a result, Wimbledon's event broadcast copyright fee is the most expensive among the four Grand Slam events, and even no advertisements are inserted during the broadcast period. Wimbledon has further increased its value through the "restricted advertising" model. Wimbledon almost does not allow trademarks to appear in the stadium, and the most common one is Rolex. This way of playing has led to the fact that the brands that "sell" Wimbledon are mostly luxury goods, big brands, and financial institutions, and the tone of the brand has further upgraded the "business value" of Wimbledon.
Under the influence of Wimbledon, London has become one of the most commercially valuable tennis cities .
and Federer chose London as his farewell place was carefully considered. Born in Basel, Switzerland, Federer did not choose Basel as his curtain call, but Basel itself is also a tennis city. Federer has won the championship 10 times in his hometown. Many legendary tennis players will take their hometown city or the "winning place" of their first trophy in their life as the curtain call, but Federer chose London.
In a sense, 4.4915 million yuan per game ticket may only appear in London : In the Laver Cup online stadium last night, celebrities from all walks of life gathered in London, most of whom usually live in London or have fixed residences in London. And, this curtain call in London has earned a lot of traffic on social media - the Laver Cup has been very popular.
It is worth noting that Federer is one of the few "persons with extremely clear business ideas" among tennis players. In 2018, Federer did not renew his contract after completing 24 years of cooperation with Nike. Federer, who was 37 years old at the time, sought his last "big contract" in his career. According to public information, Nike and Federer's previous contract was 12 million yuan per year.
At that time, many people thought Federer would renew his contract with Nike, but surprisingly, Federer finally chose Uniqlo - a 10-year, $300 million endorsement contract. It is calculated that this is the largest sponsorship contract in tennis history. What is hidden behind this cooperation is Federer’s demand for developing new markets. He and his team hope to further penetrate the Asian market through Uniqlo's channel resources and brand influence.
As early as 2011, Federer publicly stated after the game that he "cares much about the Asian market" . During the entire career, Federer came to China at least once a year in the middle and late stages. In China, Federer has participated in youth tennis training camps "sponsored" by brands such as Mercedes-Benz many times.
Federer's business vision is also reflected in investing in the Swiss running shoe brand On Holding AG project. In November 2019, Federer became the shareholder and spokesperson of Anpao. He not only invested but also "ideas" - less than a year after starting cooperation, Federer participated in the design of Anpao's tennis sneakers "The Roger". Subsequently, Federer wore Anpa customized sneakers to participate in the competition at many Opens.
Federer's investment received a return. In 2021, Anpao Company successfully IPOed. According to Yahoo Finance calculations, Federer's stock value has exceeded US$600 million after Anpao went public. Anpao is also Federer's "grabbing tool" for the Chinese market. Currently, Anpao stores are available in Beijing, Shanghai, Chengdu and Shenzhen.
Federer's business talent is also reflected in the brokerage company "TEAM8". In 2013, Federer and his friends opened the company, and since then most of his business and event activities have been "operated" through this company. In terms of signing athletes with , TEAM8 is not limited to tennis, but also signed several golf players and created the "high-end player IP matrix" . In terms of event products, the most important event of TEAM8 is the Laver Cup.
In 2017, while preparing for the first Laval Cup, Federer geniused to come up with the idea of "his own teaming with Nadal to doubles". Under the influence of this "explosive gimmick", the tickets for the first Laval Cup were quickly sold out.As Federer "ends the curtain call" with the Laval Cup, the attention of this event on social media has increased significantly, and it seems to be a world-class competition.
Tennis player Federer retired, but commercial Federer did not.
From a small detail, you can feel a certain characteristic of Federer: as a tennis superstar, Federer is a rare player with "no private jets". He chose to rent the plane to save unnecessary expenses. And it is this frugal and clear-headed Federer who plays a shareholder of a listed company, a big-name spokesperson, a boss of a leading economy company, and a tournament initiator in addition to his identity as a tennis player...
Perhaps, in another twenty years, people will remember him as "the most successful sports business tycoon."
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