When Endorsement Deals Fall Apart

Athletes get great endorsement contracts that can generate millions of dollars over their lifetime. The latest addition to the endorsement arena is celebrity chefs. They author cookbooks, get television shows, open restaurants, and use social media to drive their empires. Then there are the spokespeople for various businesses, like Jared Fogle for Subway.

Some athletes exhibit bad behavior like physically abusing their spouse, gambling, dog fighting, cheating on their spouse repeatedly, or taking performance enhancing drugs. Some have even killed. There could be racist incidents in someone’s past that comes back to haunt. A worst-case scenario may be getting caught trying to lure teenage girls into meetings using a social media account.

All these examples have happened and tens of millions of dollars in endorsement contracts have disappeared quickly. Sponsoring companies do not like scandal and they do not like their brands tarnished by a relationship with endorsers that generate bad press and social media warfare storms. Sponsors cut ties quickly, they run far, and they run fast.