Oct. 26 (Bloomberg) -- Brazilian soccer phenom Neymar curled a shot inside the near post and leaped into the air. The goal that helped his Santos team win the 2011 South American club championship wowed five executives from Japanese video game company Konami Corp., who were in the stands.
“The way that the crowd was reacting and the next couple days all the media talking about how great Neymar was, he reminded us of Messi when he was a lot younger,” said Erik Bladinieres, Konami’s director for Latin America, referring to FC Barcelona’s Lionel Messi, the three-time top world player of the year. “That’s when we decided we wanted to have him.”
Konami struck a deal to put Neymar da Silva Santos Jr. and his signature Mohawk on the cover of its Pro Evolution Soccer game throughout the region, joining a parade of multinationals including Nike Inc., Volkswagen AG and Unilever NV that have signed the 20-year-old star. Eike Batista, Brazil’s richest man, recruited Neymar for his venture with IMG Worldwide Inc. that will steer his career in Brazil and beyond.
It’s the beyond part that could prove tricky. While Neymar is the top-paid player in Brazil -- the host country of the 2014 World Cup -- he’s yet to prove himself against the world’s top talent, so a premature move to Europe could jeopardize his money machine, said Stephen Greyser, a Harvard Business School marketing professor specializing in sports business.
Neymar has already had a taste of the perils involved. He failed to score in the 2012 Olympics semifinals and final, which Brazil lost to underdog Mexico. In the Tokyo final of the 2011 Club World Cup, Neymar’s team went scoreless, while Messi had two goals in Barcelona’s 4-0 win.
“Why would he want to risk going to Europe now and potentially demystifying the mystique?” Greyser said in an interview last month in Boston.
Pele’s Footsteps
Neymar was born in Mogi das Cruzes, a factory city outside Sao Paulo, with soccer in his veins. His father, a former lower- division player, worked several jobs simultaneously while teaching his son the game. He enrolled in the academy at Santos, making his debut for the club made famous by Pele, one of his role models, at the age of 17. On Oct. 17, he played his 200th game for the club, scoring his 119th career goal.
He is well-positioned in Brazil, which for the second straight year topped consulting firm A.T. Kearney’s ranking of the hottest emerging retail markets. Last season he made an estimated 13.8 million euros ($18 million) a year in salary and endorsements, according to France Football magazine, making him the 13th best-paid soccer player in the world. The 25-year-old Messi tops the list at 33 million euros, yet London-based SportsPro magazine picked Neymar as the world’s most marketable athlete in 2012.
Spurning Europe
Last month, the London-based newspaper The Sun said Manchester United of the English Premier League was the latest top European club to make an offer for Neymar, at 38 million pounds ($60 million). Santos denied the report, and Neymar said it’s too early for him to follow the path of almost every Brazilian star and transfer to a European club.
“Why didn’t you go to Europe, dude?” a friend asks the shirtless Neymar on a beach in an ad that ran this year for Guarana Antarctica, a soft drink made by Cia. de Bebidas das Americas. It then cuts to Neymar in thick winter wear struggling to perform his fancy footwork in a snowstorm and losing the ball. Then back to the beach, where a grinning Neymar responds “Not now” before boogieing with bikini-clad Brazilians.
Overexposure
Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/business/bloomberg/article/Messi-With-a-Mohawk-Lures-Brazil-s-Richest-Man-3983266.php#ixzz2AQGjteWp
“The way that the crowd was reacting and the next couple days all the media talking about how great Neymar was, he reminded us of Messi when he was a lot younger,” said Erik Bladinieres, Konami’s director for Latin America, referring to FC Barcelona’s Lionel Messi, the three-time top world player of the year. “That’s when we decided we wanted to have him.”
Konami struck a deal to put Neymar da Silva Santos Jr. and his signature Mohawk on the cover of its Pro Evolution Soccer game throughout the region, joining a parade of multinationals including Nike Inc., Volkswagen AG and Unilever NV that have signed the 20-year-old star. Eike Batista, Brazil’s richest man, recruited Neymar for his venture with IMG Worldwide Inc. that will steer his career in Brazil and beyond.
It’s the beyond part that could prove tricky. While Neymar is the top-paid player in Brazil -- the host country of the 2014 World Cup -- he’s yet to prove himself against the world’s top talent, so a premature move to Europe could jeopardize his money machine, said Stephen Greyser, a Harvard Business School marketing professor specializing in sports business.
Neymar has already had a taste of the perils involved. He failed to score in the 2012 Olympics semifinals and final, which Brazil lost to underdog Mexico. In the Tokyo final of the 2011 Club World Cup, Neymar’s team went scoreless, while Messi had two goals in Barcelona’s 4-0 win.
“Why would he want to risk going to Europe now and potentially demystifying the mystique?” Greyser said in an interview last month in Boston.
Pele’s Footsteps
Neymar was born in Mogi das Cruzes, a factory city outside Sao Paulo, with soccer in his veins. His father, a former lower- division player, worked several jobs simultaneously while teaching his son the game. He enrolled in the academy at Santos, making his debut for the club made famous by Pele, one of his role models, at the age of 17. On Oct. 17, he played his 200th game for the club, scoring his 119th career goal.
He is well-positioned in Brazil, which for the second straight year topped consulting firm A.T. Kearney’s ranking of the hottest emerging retail markets. Last season he made an estimated 13.8 million euros ($18 million) a year in salary and endorsements, according to France Football magazine, making him the 13th best-paid soccer player in the world. The 25-year-old Messi tops the list at 33 million euros, yet London-based SportsPro magazine picked Neymar as the world’s most marketable athlete in 2012.
Spurning Europe
Last month, the London-based newspaper The Sun said Manchester United of the English Premier League was the latest top European club to make an offer for Neymar, at 38 million pounds ($60 million). Santos denied the report, and Neymar said it’s too early for him to follow the path of almost every Brazilian star and transfer to a European club.
“Why didn’t you go to Europe, dude?” a friend asks the shirtless Neymar on a beach in an ad that ran this year for Guarana Antarctica, a soft drink made by Cia. de Bebidas das Americas. It then cuts to Neymar in thick winter wear struggling to perform his fancy footwork in a snowstorm and losing the ball. Then back to the beach, where a grinning Neymar responds “Not now” before boogieing with bikini-clad Brazilians.
Overexposure
Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/business/bloomberg/article/Messi-With-a-Mohawk-Lures-Brazil-s-Richest-Man-3983266.php#ixzz2AQGjteWp
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