Marcus Mariota is financially set for life even before he takes his first snap with the Tennessee Titans.
The endorsements have rushed in faster than a blitzing linebacker and likely will be worth more than $10 million a year, said NFL agent Leo Goeas.
That’s on top of a four-year contract expected to total nearly $21.4 million, according to Forbes’ rookie salary projections
If he has a successful NFL career, Mariota could wind up as the wealthiest athlete ever from the 50th state.
While he’s now the new face of the Titans franchise, the onetime Saint Louis School quarterback has been carrying the state of Hawaii’s flag since starring at the University of Oregon during the past three years. It’s up for debate, though, whether he can supplant pro golfer Michelle Wie as the state’s most well-known athlete.
"I think he’s going to be the top guy now," said Goeas, a former University of Hawaii and NFL offensive lineman. "The reason why is he’s in the right sport. The NFL is truly America’s game. Nothing against golf or baseball, but as a marketable entity he’s spotless. He is compelling and he’s extremely marketable whatever the product line is. I think for quite some time here he’s going to be the top athlete in all the sports out of Hawaii."
Mariota, 21, already has deals with Nike, Subway and Beats by Dre headphones, along with First Hawaiian Bank. He is soon to announcing other endorsements, according to a source close to him, and has an autograph deal with GT Sports Marketing of Hawaii.
In January, NFL Players Inc., the marketing and licensing arm of the NFL Players Association, ranked Mariota third on its Rising 50 list of future top-selling stars even though he has never played a down in the league.
But while Mariota might end up being among the top earners of any Hawaii athlete, he may fall short of Wie in terms of global appeal, according to Golf Channel on NBC analyst Mark Rolfing.
Wie, the onetime teenage prodigy, has been in the global limelight since signing endorsement deals worth a combined $10 million with Nike and Sony when she turned pro in 2005 just before her 16th birthday. She has a multitude of endorsements now, including Nike, Kia Motors America, Omega, McDonald’s and Malaysia-based conglomerate Sime Darby. Of the $6.4 million that she earned in 2014 on the LPGA Tour, $4.4 million of that came off the course for endorsements, appearance fees and the like, according to Golf Digest’s annual rankings.
Rolfing, who says the Golf Digest off-the-course figure seems a little low, estimates that Wie, 25, probably has made between $50 million and $100 million in endorsements since she became a professional while still at Punahou School.
"She started early and broke a lot of ground when she first turned pro, which was almost 10 years ago," Rolfing said. "She signed two gigantic contracts that was almost unheard of before. That was with Nike and Sony. Those deals back then were bigger than any singular deal she has now. I think Michelle’s global appeal will be difficult for Marcus to surpass."
Nike said it has had a long-standing relationship with the University of Oregon for over three decades and "couldn’t be more excited to have Marcus as part of the Nike family," company spokeswoman Jacie Prieto-Lopez said.
"He has tremendous talent on the field, an incredible work ethic and a humble, selfless outlook on life," she said. "He will be a great ambassador for us in both football and training. Both Marcus and Michelle are great athletes and Nike is proud to work with them."
The list is short for Hawaii-raised professional athletes who have garnered extensive national attention in recent years.
On the surfing front, two-time world champion Carissa Moore, 22, of Honolulu signed deals with Nike and Target before her 17th birthday that have made her the world’s highest-paid female in her sport. Big-wave surfer Laird Hamilton, who grew up on Kauai, has endorsement deals with American Express and French beachwear company Oxbow, among others.
John John Florence of Oahu’s North Shore has an endorsement deal with Hurley Wetsuits and Clothing that surf publications say has made him the highest paid professional surfer. Kauai’s Bethany Hamilton, who lost an arm to a shark at age 13, charges $30,000 to $50,000 for speaking engagements, according to Christian Speakers 360, and has endorsements with surfwear retailer Rip Curl and Cobian Footwear, among others.
The state’s most recognizable current baseball player is the Boston Red Sox’s Maui-born Shane Victorino, a two-time All-Star who played on two World Series championship teams and in 2010, with wife Melissa, formed the Shane Victorino Foundation to promote opportunities for underserved youth. Last year, Victorino did a commercial for King’s Hawaiian Bakery.
Hawaii island’s Kolten Wong, who played in the 2013 World Series and has an endorsement deal with Jamba Juice Hawaii, is likely second behind Victorino for local baseball recognition.
Former Notre Dame and Punahou football star Manti Te’o, now with the San Diego Chargers, is endorsing Vita Coco coconut water. But his endorsement potential suffered from the controversy involving a nonexistent girlfriend and by being slowed by foot injuries since being drafted in 2013.
Goeas said, however, if Te’o has a stellar year or makes the Pro Bowl, his marketing opportunities would pick up.
"He’s had some bad luck with the foot injury that caused him to miss a bunch of time," Goeas said. "As far as getting big marketing deals, he hasn’t been able to maximize that yet."
Teaming up with Mariota, the second pick in Thursday’s NFL draft, should prove profitable for any company, according to Dana Alden, professor of marketing at the University of Hawaii’s Shidler College of Business.
"One of the ways we approach evaluating the value of a brand to a particular endorser or spokesman is if the individual is likeable, credible, trustworthy and well-known," Alden said. "And if you have all of those four things going, then your value as a spokesperson goes up. I would say for the local market, and the national market, Marcus has all those going for him.
"He is extremely well-known in Hawaii and extremely well-liked and I think he’s also credible and trustworthy because his public persona pretty well matches what we know of his private life. There’s no disconnect. The perception is he’s the same on the field as he is off the field."
As much as Mariota will be the face now of the Titans, Wie is the face of the entire LPGA.
"Her biggest attribute is just the attention she creates," Rolfing said. "Because she is such a big star in ladies’ golf, she stands out above everybody else almost regardless of her performance. I go to LPGA tournaments sometimes where she’s not the defending champion or when she’s not playing well and she’ll still be the image on most of the billboards around town promoting the event around town. She’s the biggest star in women’s golf and that’s what makes her marketable."
Goeas said the endorsement opportunities for Mariota will be virtually limitless.
"It’s all over the place," he said. "It’s clothing, it’s food, it’s mobile phones. There’s a pretty well-established network of large companies that use NFL players for endorsements."
Rolfing said the way that golfers and NFL players make money is "way different."
"The typical superstar in golf makes way more money off the golf course than on the golf course whereas in the NFL a player, with his salary, is going to make more money actually competing than off-the-field endorsements. That’s sort of the nature of the two sports."
Goeas said that with basic money management — saving and investing — Mariota could have more than $50 million after taxes by the time his career is finished.
"He could have $20 million in the bank and be living off the interest," Goeas said. "He could live fairly comfortably."
Alden, the UH professor of marketing, said there’s so much clutter in the marketplace because of social media that having a great endorser whose stature grows over time can bring a positive return on a company’s investment.
"Someone like Marcus Mariota has just a great potential to make an immediate impact and to continue that impact over time," Alden said. "Some of the brands that are created like the GEICO gecko take time to develop. Marcus should be more immediate."
