Is Josh Hamilton Worthy of Major League Endorsements?

There is no doubt that Texas Rangers outfielder Josh Hamilton’s star is rising. He’s leading the American League in homers and runs batted in and is in the top-five in batting through the June 6 games. More important for marketers, he’s among the leading vote-getters for this year’s Major League All-Star Game.

But marketers aren’t knocking down Hamilton’s door for endorsement deals. After all, he went from being baseball’s squeaky-clean first-overall draft pick in 1999 to a guy who was dealing with crack and alcohol addictions – and was out of baseball – just a few years ago.

So will Hamilton go from being the poster boy for all things bad in life to a marketing superstar? It depends on which sports marketing expert you ask.

“Josh Hamilton is a great story, and America just loves a comeback,” said Ben Sturner, founder and president of Leverage Agency, during a kickoff cocktail party June 4 for the US Sports Film Festival in New York. “But I think blue chip marketers are going to wait a little bit longer before they put his past well behind him.”

But Kevin Adler, founder and chief solutions officer of Engage Marketing, thinks the time for marketers to strike is now, while his stock is up. Adler quoted a recent Hamilton press clipping in which Hamilton said it’s his past struggles that make his story more than just a baseball story.

“The fact that he has been to the bottom and is honest about it and has embraced and owned up to his mistakes and come back from them is an incredible—and very American—story about the triumph of the human spirit,” Adler said.

Of course it would also depend on the brand and/or product he was endorsing. If it’s a product that can relay a brand story about hopes, dreams and a comeback, and the brand team is willing to make that leap of faith in both Hamilton and its own consumers, then the opportunity for Hamilton to cash in could come.

“I don’t think we’re talking about any of the big traditional consumer package goods brands, unless they have a very specific campaign playing off inspirational messaging,” Adler said.

Would that be a drug rehab center? Maybe, and maybe not, Sturner said, and it may not put much money in Hamilton’s pockets.

“Right now, Hamilton could be the perfect endorsement for a rehab facility, but that’s hard to make money off of,” Sturner said. “If he truly went to that facility, he’d likely pay them back with a commercial free-of-charge. If he didn’t go to the facility, the spot has no credibility.”

Wally Hayward, chairman and CEO and Relay Worldwide, said he would want to wait and see if Hamilton can keep it up as a superstar on the field and a model citizen off before making any sort of endorsement deal. But if he can, the marketers will come calling.

“He still must prove that his numbers for the season to date are real, and that he can perform at this level all season and for more than just one year,” Hayward said. “We have seen it too many times before where there are players who have one-hit-wonder seasons and the next year they are in the middle of the pack, which greatly impacts their marketability for endorsing a product.

Either way though, Justin Edelman, vice president of Edelman Sports, said Hamilton could be a risk, despite his Horatio Alger rags to riches story. But the reward, Edelman said, could be tremendous.

“We are a society that offers second chances, and Hamilton’s story is one that captures the imagination of fans and that piques the interest of marketers,” Edelman said.

But Edelman said it doesn’t mean companies negotiating marketing deals with Hamilton shouldn’t include contingencies for character. And Hayward said he agrees.

“Even if we did an endorsement deal with Hamilton tomorrow, we would use the same strong moral clause language for Josh’s past history off the field as we would for an athlete with a clean past to ensure we protect our client’s investment,” Hayward said.