LeBron James

The most anticipated free agent will be available July 1. Why is LeBron James (LBJ) so valued to a team? Well not only because of the superior chance to win the NBA title but also revenue. According to Fortune Magazine article in 2007, LBJ ooverall has about $170 million in sponsorship deals. In this figure is the $90 million from Nike, $15 million from Coke, $6 million from Upper Deck, $4.5 million from Bubblicious, and $7.5 million from Cub Cadet. An MSN deal included $3 million upfront, and the partners will soon begin a phase in which Microsoft and LRMR will share advertising revenues sold on MSN's LeBron site - 60% for LRMR and 40% for MSN. This guy pretty much is a walking living advertisement. So if you are the marketing director for whatever team LBJ signs with, did your job become much easier or much harder?