Who is the more marketable player in Major League Baseball?
We all know that
Washington Nationals outfielder Bryce Harper and Los Angeles Angels outfielder
Mike Trout are two of the brightest young talents to ever come up through Major
League Baseball’s minor league system.
Coming in at a combined age of 39, they both clearly have long playing
careers ahead of them. It is close to
inevitable that either Harper or Trout will make the playoffs at some point in
their career. One may even win a World
Series at some point. With so much
promise and so much upside between the two, which one will drive more
endorsement dollars during their career?
That is the question of the day today, if you are looking to sign a
Major League Baseball player to an endorsement deal, do you take Bryce Harper
or Mike Trout?
Tale of the Tape
I want everyone
to channel their inner Mike Goldberg here and cue up the gladiator music for
our tale of the tape!
Birthday:
10/16/1992 (age 19) Birthday: 8/7/1991 (age 20)
Team: Washington
Nationals Team: Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
Height: 6’3” Weight: 215 lbs. Height: 6'1" Weight: 210
Bats: Left Throws: Right Bats: Right Throws: Right
MLB Debut: April
28, 2012 MLB Debut: July 8, 2011
Where they are now
We all know
where both Bryce Harper and Mike Trout stand at the moment as Major League
Baseball players, but where do they currently stand as marketing assets. Harper, the Washington Nationals’
prospect-of-the-century, has been closing his fair share of endorsement deals
off of the field. Bryce Harper currently
has endorsement deals with Akadema (baseball gloves), MusclePharm, Swing Away
training equipment, Topps baseball cards, and Under Armour. His current endorsement status is driven by
hype that the sports world has never seen before. Here is a guy (I say guy as if he’s older
than me…) that graced the cover of Sports Illustrated as a teenager in high
school, hit the longest home run in Tropicana Field history, and have stories
that make him out to be more like Paul Bunyan than a baseball player.
Mike Trout, the
Los Angeles Angels bright young outfielder, has gone relatively unknown to the
masses in the beginning parts of his young career. He seems to be that guy that was ahead of
Bryce Harper on Keith Law’s list of top prospects, but nobody really knew too
much about him. In doing my research for
this piece I could not find any endorsement deals that Trout has right
now. I’m sure he has to have one or two,
but the point is that he’s a notch below Bryce Harper in the endorsement category right now.
What makes a player “marketable?”
An athlete’s marketability
comes down to a few essentials: talent, looks, charisma, handling of the media,
media market, and clutch (handling of the big moments). Those would also be elements that an athlete could
use to build a brand. Some are able to
build the brand into a marketing asset, some are not. Of course you can have a marketable athlete
that is missing one of these attributes, but I would venture to guess that he/she
has built their brand on not having
that certain quality. Think about it for
a second. Anna Kournikova, no
talent. Nyjer Morgan, mainly
charisma. LeBron James, nothing in the
clutch… just kidding you are all way too hard on him, he’s a marketers dream. Other perfect marketing examples would be
Derek Jeter, Tiger Woods, David Beckham, Michael Jordan, Tim Tebow, and Lance
Armstrong. Those guys are endorsement
powerhouses and that is the kind of potential we have between Bryce Harper and Mike Trout. 
Media market and
clutch are two that can be made up for in different ways, and the biggest way
that I can think of is by a high level performance in the playoffs. The playoffs are broadcasted on national
networks and garner big media attention usually regardless of city. That’s where a guy like Tim Tebow made up for
not being in a big media market (obviously prior to his trade to New York, so
shaddup). To be a “marketer’s dream,” you
MUST be a winner.
The Fight
Talent
Edge: Too
Close To Call
Looks
Edge: Bryce
Harper - He has sweet hair? Girls like scruff? I'll go with him by default.
Charisma/Handling
the Media
Edge: Bryce
Harper – That could be from
experience, so Trout has room to make up ground.
Media Market
Edge: Mike
Trout – It’s hard to argue with the second biggest media market in the United
States.
Clutch
Edge:
Neither – Neither one has played on the national stage quite yet.
Help From Team
Edge: Mike
Trout – Trout has Albert Pujols. Harper
has unproven promise. For now, I’ll take
the Angels.
Marketability
Now
Edge: Bryce
Harper – I laid it out for you earlier.
It’s pretty obvious.
Marketability
Future
Edge: Bryce
Harper is off to a fast start but only time will tell!
Final Score
Harper – 4 (3
decisive, 1 you can decide) vs. Mike Trout – 2
As of right now,
Bryce Harper has the early lead on Mike Trout; however, given the fact that
they are both the age of a college sophomore, I think it’s safe to assume that
they have some time. Under my model of
marketability, it was still too early to tell on three different
categories and one was more or less up for grabs. Both have the potential to be marketing and endorsement giants. Although Bryce Harper is
more marketable than Mike Trout right now, the future is wide open and I can’t wait
to watch the battle.