Sidney Crosby - The Reebok gamble - will it pay off?

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eye

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Hard to believe that a company like Reebok would gamble millions at this particular time on a still somewhat unproven young star.

Crosby could be playing in the WHA, AHL or Europe next year.

Crosby is an outstanding Junior hockey player dominating the weaker teams and defensemen in the Q but IMO his best upside is limited or more comparable to a Brad Richards although he does have a more fan friendly smile and media appeal.

The NHL style of play and clutch and grab 6'4" interfering Dmen will not allow a 5'10" player to dominate and shine the way stars should shine. Crosby was really good at the WJC but didn't stand out as much as all the media types made it sound. He played with the next 2 best offensive players in the tournament, played every power play and still didn't rack up the kind of points you expect from a superstar. i.e. Gretzky in the WJC's.

Crosby is a great player at his current level and is likely to be a really good NHL'r but to hand out millions to yet an unproven player boggles my mind and is another example of what's gone wrong with professional sports.
 

Chili

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The NHL style of play and clutch and grab 6'4" interfering Dmen will not allow a 5'10" player to dominate and shine the way stars should shine.

That sounds eerily similair to what was said about Gretzky before he came to the NHL. It's not an issue for the reigning Art Ross trophy winner. We'll have to see if the NHL makes any adjustments to free up the neutral zone as well.
 

ti-vite

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If the players get the 'partnership' they so want, Crosby will have to share his 'hockey related revenue' with the owners and other players.

A team get a sponsorship for 3M$, the players want a cut. A player gets a sponsorship, all his.

Comments :)
 

Schlep Rock

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eye,

I'd like to point something simple out here... Lebron James was not dominating all-stars when he was playing high school ball but look at all Nike threw at him.

Even if he doesn't turn into the next Gretzky, there is so much hype surrounding him it could create excitement for the Reebok brand. With all the new equipment they are rolling out, what a way to debut them.

Gretzky himself said if anybody could be "him", it's Sidney. That's enough to attract any corporate sponsor.
 

CGG

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I think you are horribly pessimistic when it comes to Crosby's future, comparing his "best upside" to Brad Richards.

But regardless, Crosby is the hottest young player in hockey today, and will have a definite impact when he gets to the NHL. You have to sign players young, if you wait until he's established someone else will have gobbled him up or the price will have skyrocketed.

You also have to remember, Reebok is launching a whole new line of equipment. They are newcomers to the hockey market and need to make a big splash. There's no better way of doing this then getting Crosby.
 

Schlep Rock

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ti-vite said:
If the players get the 'partnership' they so want, Crosby will have to share his 'hockey related revenue' with the owners and other players.

A team get a sponsorship for 3M$, the players want a cut. A player gets a sponsorship, all his.

Comments :)

This is such a stupid idea I'm not even going to comment.

Which this would equate to is everybody earning the same money. If Joe Thornton is making $5 million and Tom Fitzgerald is earning $500,000... Jumbo Joe has to pay into a fund to make Fitzy's richer?
 

ti-vite

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Schlep Rock said:
This is such a stupid idea I'm not even going to comment.

Which this would equate to is everybody earning the same money. If Joe Thornton is making $5 million and Tom Fitzgerald is earning $500,000... Jumbo Joe has to pay into a fund to make Fitzy's richer?

Why not pecentages?

Lets say Reebok sponsors the Habs for 4M$...the players cry foul and say they deserve a cut. Why does it not work the other way?
 

CGG

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ti-vite said:
Why not pecentages?

Lets say Reebok sponsors the Habs for 4M$...the players cry foul and say they deserve a cut. Why does it not work the other way?

You're missing the obvious. If a player shows up in a commercial wearing his team's uniform, then the team DOES get a cut. A pretty significant one, I might add. That's why you see Theodore and Bertuzzi (pre-incident) wearing non-descript uniforms while flogging Gatorade, since Gatorade was too cheap to pay for the rights to NHL logos.
 

Schlep Rock

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ti-vite said:
Why not pecentages?

Lets say Reebok sponsors the Habs for 4M$...the players cry foul and say they deserve a cut. Why does it not work the other way?

The players aren't crying foul, they're simply saying because they are the product they deserve a cut of the revenues as well.

Corporations use revenue/profit sharing (some) for their employees so if you want to look at the players as employees then here's a perfect example. You don't see Jimmy Jones in Human resources collecting any "employee sharing" money from Jimmy Dean who is the V.P. of finance.
 

ti-vite

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gc2005 said:
You're missing the obvious. If a player shows up in a commercial wearing his team's uniform, then the team DOES get a cut. A pretty significant one, I might add. That's why you see Theodore and Bertuzzi (pre-incident) wearing non-descript uniforms while flogging Gatorade, since Gatorade was too cheap to pay for the rights to NHL logos.

Which begs the question, what are the NHLPA sources of revenue (Hockey Cards,what else?), and should the NHL push a cut of them they are not already getting?
 

Mess

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Now reebok just has to make sure that Crosby ends up in a Hockey hotbed in Canada and the endoesment cheques will come rolling in for Sid the Kid ..

I can't imagine many people in Nashville and Carolina have even heard of him ..
 

kerrly

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eye said:
Hard to believe that a company like Reebok would gamble millions at this particular time on a still somewhat unproven young star.

Crosby could be playing in the WHA, AHL or Europe next year.

Crosby is an outstanding Junior hockey player dominating the weaker teams and defensemen in the Q but IMO his best upside is limited or more comparable to a Brad Richards although he does have a more fan friendly smile and media appeal.

The NHL style of play and clutch and grab 6'4" interfering Dmen will not allow a 5'10" player to dominate and shine the way stars should shine. Crosby was really good at the WJC but didn't stand out as much as all the media types made it sound. He played with the next 2 best offensive players in the tournament, played every power play and still didn't rack up the kind of points you expect from a superstar. i.e. Gretzky in the WJC's.

Crosby is a great player at his current level and is likely to be a really good NHL'r but to hand out millions to yet an unproven player boggles my mind and is another example of what's gone wrong with professional sports.

I've played against Brad Richards when he played AAA in Notre Dame. There is no way Crosby's upside is that limited. Crosby has shown things at that age Richards could only dream of, and same with his teammate Lecavalier. He has vision and the ability to make plays that noone else can. Vision is what seperates the greatest players from the rest of the pack, and his skills are also second to none, which makes him a serious threat. The small player argument is bogus too, the great ones find a way to overcome it like Joe Sakic, Martin St. Louis, Theo Fleury, and many many others over the years.

And personally, if I was bringing out a new line of hockey equipment, Crosby would be the first player I'd go after. He's already a huge name in Canada, where hockey equipment sales are the most important to a company. Its a good way to get your company some quick and long-term recognition. Of course its a gamble, in the way that maybe he gets injured and his career is over. But its not a gamble in his ability. Almost everyone agrees he will be a star. I don't think he will be a Gretzky, but he will be the best player in the league at points in his career and one of the most exciting players to watch. Those are the types of players kids love to emmulate and follow, and those are the types of players that will get kids to beg their parents for some Sidney Crosby Reebok gloves. Personally, I'm suprised it took some company this long to throw a bunch of cash Crosby's way.
 

Schlep Rock

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ti-vite said:
Which begs the question, what are the NHLPA sources of revenue (Hockey Cards,what else?), and should the NHL push a cut of them they are not already getting?

Do you understand how businesses and revenue sharing and profit sharing work?

How the heck is the NHL entitled to what the players make off endorsement deals?

How are the players entitled to revenue/profit sharing? Without the players, there is no revenue and no advertisers pumping money into the organization. Will they get it? Who knows but the players have a MUCH stronger case to gain revenue/profit sharing then the NHL has of getting endorsement sharing off Crosby.
 

futurcorerock

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The Messenger said:
Now reebok just has to make sure that Crosby ends up in a Hockey hotbed in Canada and the endoesment cheques will come rolling in for Sid the Kid ..

I can't imagine many people in Nashville and Carolina have even heard of him ..
Hockey fans there have.
 

Schlep Rock

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To add... a multi-million dollar deal could be $2 million/year ($10 million total) which is a sizeable deal for an unproven NHLer, it'll likely be immediately worth it for Reebok based around the hype surrounding this. It's on the front page of TSN and Crosby himself (not talking about the Reedbok deal) is on the front of ESPN's NHL page.
 

eye

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kerrly said:
I've played against Brad Richards when he played AAA in Notre Dame. There is no way Crosby's upside is that limited. Crosby has shown things at that age Richards could only dream of, and same with his teammate Lecavalier. He has vision and the ability to make plays that noone else can. Vision is what seperates the greatest players from the rest of the pack, and his skills are also second to none, which makes him a serious threat. The small player argument is bogus too, the great ones find a way to overcome it like Joe Sakic, Martin St. Louis, Theo Fleury, and many many others over the years.

And personally, if I was bringing out a new line of hockey equipment, Crosby would be the first player I'd go after. He's already a huge name in Canada, where hockey equipment sales are the most important to a company. Its a good way to get your company some quick and long-term recognition. Of course its a gamble, in the way that maybe he gets injured and his career is over. But its not a gamble in his ability. Almost everyone agrees he will be a star. I don't think he will be a Gretzky, but he will be the best player in the league at points in his career and one of the most exciting players to watch. Those are the types of players kids love to emmulate and follow, and those are the types of players that will get kids to beg their parents for some Sidney Crosby Reebok gloves. Personally, I'm suprised it took some company this long to throw a bunch of cash Crosby's way.


I didn't knock the guy. I compared him to one of the NHL's better players in Brad Richards. Richards scored 71 goals and had 186 pts. in a less watered down Q. Expansion has made the weak sisters in the Q even weaker than when Richards played in that league. I don't get to see Crosby alot but have seem him at least a dozen times now and there are no guarantees that he will become an NHL superstar. Ovechkin is faster, bigger and has better and more 1 on 1 moves than Crosby has shown and he won't be a superstar either. It's not a disgrace to be compared to Brad Richards.

I know the NHL desperately needs a budding star to help repair the damage and to build around but I just wish they would do as good a job as the NBA does at promoting the stars on every team and not just an unproven 17 year old.

Bergeron and Carter outplayed Crosby and they don't get the media attention that Sidney does. Why not? Because he is putting up big numbers at 17 in a watered down league? Because he has a million dollar smile or a tremendous attitude? Because the media are starving for a feel good story? All of the above?

Personally, I take Phaneuf over Sidney if they were in the same draft year.
 

Chili

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Without the players, there is no revenue and no advertisers pumping money into the organization.

I see that argument frequently. Without the owners, there is no organization. An organization is not just players, it's trainers, scouts, front office types, marketing, hockey operations, etc.

Bottom line is that it's a two way street, the two sides need each other. Otherwise the players could just go out and form their own league. And I wish they would so that they would begin to appreciate the contributions of everyone else involved with the game.
 

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eye said:
I know the NHL desperately needs a budding star to help repair the damage and to build around but I just wish they would do as good a job as the NBA does at promoting the stars on every team and not just an unproven 17 year old.

You gotta start somewhere....

eye said:
Because he is putting up big numbers at 17... Because he has a million dollar smile or a tremendous attitude? Because the media are starving for a feel good story? All of the above?

I think you answered all your own questions right there....
 

eye

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Chili said:
I see that argument frequently. Without the owners, there is no organization. An organization is not just players, it's trainers, scouts, front office types, marketing, hockey operations, etc.

Bottom line is that it's a two way street, the two sides need each other. Otherwise the players could just go out and form their own league. And I wish they would so that they would begin to appreciate the contributions of everyone else involved with the game.

The Toronto Maple Leafs played with replacement players almost the entire Harold Ballard era and still sold out. :lol :lol :lol
 

Schlep Rock

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Chili said:
I see that argument frequently. Without the owners, there is no organization. An organization is not just players, it's trainers, scouts, front office types, marketing, hockey operations, etc.

Bottom line is that it's a two way street, the two sides need each other. Otherwise the players could just go out and form their own league. And I wish they would so that they would begin to appreciate the contributions of everyone else involved with the game.

Valid response back.

Here's my come back to that...
we will hypothetically say Microsoft offers profit sharing to all of their employees (not sure if they do)

Without Bill Gates there would be no Microsoft but without the employees Gates would be worth maybe $100k on his own. The employees (players) put value into the franchise because they allow products to be sold (gate receipts, concessions, and advertising).

So without the owners, no team. Without the players, no revenue. The owners/teams aren't going anywhere so the revenue needs to be there and since the players are the "product" as most people argue, they are looking for the revenue sharing.
 

Hoek

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eye said:
It's not a disgrace to be compared to Brad Richards.

You mean the guy that set an NHL playoff record for gamewinning goals? Pssshhh he's a nobody..
 

Chili

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Schlep Rock said:
Valid response back.

Here's my come back to that...
we will hypothetically say Microsoft offers profit sharing to all of their employees (not sure if they do)

Without Bill Gates there would be no Microsoft but without the employees Gates would be worth maybe $100k on his own. The employees (players) put value into the franchise because they allow products to be sold (gate receipts, concessions, and advertising).

So without the owners, no team. Without the players, no revenue. The owners/teams aren't going anywhere so the revenue needs to be there and since the players are the "product" as most people argue, they are looking for the revenue sharing.

And Bill Gates is looking for his profit. And the more profitable his company is, probably the more profit sharing there is with his employees. And if he owns a company that's losing alot of money, not much doubt big changes would occur.
 

Schlep Rock

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Chili said:
And Bill Gates is looking for his profit. And the more profitable his company is, probably the more profit sharing there is with his employees. And if he owns a company that's losing alot of money, not much doubt big changes would occur.


Chili... you gave the simple solution for the NHL/NHLPA... not revenue sharing, but profit sharing at a tiered level.

I for one am for profit sharing in any industry, it helps give the guy in the cubicle in the basement extra incentive. Office Space the movie said it best, "you work just hard enough not to get fired." If the profit sharing is legit, you work just hard enough to excel your position/division to help the company turn a profit because you see some of that at the end of the day.

Will it make the players play harder? No. Will it make the marketing team work harder? No. Will it help in the CBA negotiations by the NHL making a concession on profit (not revenue) sharing? Yes. Maybe then they can get their hard cap figure lowered.
 
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