Media & Entertainment Law

It Pays to be Fast; Usain Bolt Reups With Puma for a Record Contract

Loyalty is often a strange thing in professional sports. It's often dictated by what have you done for me in the last five minutes especially when you're talking about the relationship between an athlete and a company whose product that athlete endorses.

Usain Bolt just re-upped with Puma, a company he has been with since he first started running. The contract, whose terms were not disclosed, is believed to be in the neighborhood of $15 million a year and runs until 2013. That covers the 2012 London Olympics and two world championships. A Puma representative indicated that "by far the largest ever given to a track and field athlete, positioning Bolt as a top earner in the world of sport.?

Clearly, money had something to do with the renewal of the relationship, but it was Bolt's comments that interested me the most. He said: ?Puma?s been by my side since the beginning, before anyone knew what I was capable of achieving. They saw potential in me and they took a chance, supporting me all the way, especially when things weren?t easy for me due to injuries I suffered in my teens.? It's a refreshing attitude that all professional sports need more of not just track and field, but then Bolt is a special character as well as the world's fastest human.

Full post as published by Sports Biz on August 25, 2010 (boomark / email).