Bolt signs ‘biggest ever’ athletics sponsorship deal

Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt may have cut short his season because of a stiff back after just a handful of appearances - but being away from the track hasn't diminished his commercial clout. The 24-year-old has just signed the world's biggest-ever athletics sponsorship deal.
 
Puma, the German sports manufacturer which has backed Bolt since the age of 16, refused to put a figure on the new deal but said the contract was "by far the largest ever given to a track and field athlete".
 
Bolt's value to Puma is enormous. Last year - when he smashed both the 100m and 200m world records - the firm estimated his 'media value' at well over €80m.
 
Marketing experts believe that the new deal will earn Bolt at least £10m over three years. That would eclipse what is thought to the be the biggest current deal involving an athlete - the five-year tie-up between Russian pole vaulter Yelena Isinbayeva and Chinese company Li Ning signed last year, said to be worth a meagre $1.5m-a-year.
 
Perhaps the most surprising thing about the news is that Bolt, easily the most famous athlete on the planet, was not already signed up to the biggest sponsorship deal in athletics.
 
By extending his contract to 2013 Puma have ensured that Bolt will become a key part of their marketing strategy in the run-up to the 2012 London Olympics. And the company revealed that he would help them develop footwear and other apparel.
 
Puma chairman and CEO Jochen Zeitz said Bolt would be "the best-paid athlete in track and field history". Zeitz added: "He's an iconic global sports star and as such he's now remunerated. He's shined a global spotlight on the sport; his winning personality and phenomenal physical prowess are a unique combination. The way he both engages his fans and is energised by them has helped his popularity escalate to extraordinary levels over the past two years."
 
The deal takes Bolt into a similar bracket as other sports stars like Maria Sharapova the tennis player, who earlier this year signed an eight-year deal with Nike worth $70m.
 
However, their rewards still pale in comparison to those enjoyed by the newly divorced Tiger Woods. He might have lost some of his sponsorship deals in the wake of the revelations concerning his personal life, but his deal with Nike is said to be worth $20m a year. ·