By Mike Rowbottom at SportAccord in London
April 7 – Peter Kenyon, the former Manchester United and Chelsea chief executive, believes the kind of bad publicity generated by Wayne Rooney’s latest public swearing outburst will inevitably cause major sponsors to reassess their options with regard to investing in individual sporting performers.
Rooney’s actions after scoring against West Ham merely coincided with, rather than prompted, the announcement that his personal endorsement deal with Coca-Cola, established since 2007, was not being renewed.
But while insisting that he was not commenting on Rooney’s case, Kenyon told insidethegames.biz that such controversial incidents involving high profile sports stars would cause sponsors to consider their investment strategies.
I don’t want to talk about Wayne specifically,” said Kenyon, who left Old Trafford for Stamford Bridge in 2003, a year before United signed Rooney from Everton.
“But I think the attention on sportsmen and women right now is greater than it’s ever been, and in another year it will probably be even greater.
“All high profile performers need to understand the impact or effect of something happening from a commercial viewpoint.
“What it will do is highlight again the risk of investing in an individual rather than, say, a club or a league.
“If you talk to sponsors, you talk about the ability to sponsor a league because it doesn’t alienate them with other clubs in the league.
“If they do anything with an individual rather than the club, an individual’s form can vary or other issues can occur.
“I think all these things have always been there – but I think it’s more exaggerated with the situations such as the one with Tiger Woods.”
Kenyon joined the Creative Artists Agency, which looks after showbiz and sporting celebrity talent, after leaving Chelsea in 2009, and numbers among his clients film stars such as Julia Roberts and George Clooney, and sporting performers such as Cristiano Ronaldo.
The former football man accepts the idea that the pendulum between individual and collective sponsorships is likely to swing back and forth like a pendulum.
“I think it will,” he added.
“The question never completely goes away, and then events happen that highlight one aspect of it.
“I think the reality is if you are representing someone then I think you represent them.
“Throughout the time of a sporting performer’s career and after there are highs and lows – you have to manage those things and be part of it.
“This commitment to being involved in and managing personalities is not something you take on lightly.
“You have to understand there might be things you have to address in terms of their career.”
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