Michael “Don’t Look At The Face” Phelps has $5 million endorsement deals with VISA Inc., Hilton Hotels Corp., AT&T Inc., Kellogg Co., Speedo International Ltd, and…PureSport.
Never heard of PureSport? That’s because it didn’t even exist 3 years ago.
Before the Golden Boy got gilt, he and 3 teammates agreed to endorse the sports drink based out of Austin, Texas. In Beijing, every time Phelps climbed out of the pool, a coach handed him a bottle of PureSport, and before you know it, everyone wanted some of his magic carbo-protein cocktail.
Now the seven strong company slaps Phelps’ face on everything, and the exposure has earned them a spot in sports stores shelves, though they still cannot afford TV or print ads. The company gets Phelps for 7 days out of the year and “books the hell out of him.” In return, Phelps gets a 5% cut.
Folks in the know say that the close association with a start-up could mean serious disaster for Phelps’ image if the company bombs, so Golden Boy better start working it.
Fortunately, it seems like girlfriend Caz is already a big fan of his protein drink!
[Image via WENN.]