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Essay about Sharapova

Decent Essays

Maria Sharapova Case

Sports Marketing
-Ezra Ok
1. What were the key steps in the early stages of Maria’s career development?
Yuri Sharapov first noticed his daughter had skill and took her to attend tennis clinics. It was at these clinics that Martina Navratilova, a renowned champion, observed Maria playing and commented, “She has talent”, inspiring Maria’s parents to seek a world-class coach for their daughter in the United States. Yuri and Maria arrived at IMG’s Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy where she eventually received a scholarship.
She signed with Gavin Forbes, who then assigned his duties to Max Eisenbud.
Max Eisenbud made it his priority to differentiate Maria from Anna Kournikova, a similarly talented Russian tennis …show more content…

For Sharapova, the Nike and Prince rackets endorsements helped build the hype and expectations for a star. After her win in Wimbledon, Eisenbud was able to capitalize on Sharapova transforming from the underdog to a world-class talent and obtain endorsements from companies like Motorola. A world of opportunities opened up as Sharapova’s image finally evolved into a brand that could generate money.

3. The case spends several pages on the Tennis sector of Sports. Summarize in a few paragraphs the key elements of Tennis industry.
Tennis is a racquet sport which millions of people in the U.S. alone play. Tennis differs largely from other sports because it is played between two players or two teams of two players as opposed to the large teams of other major sports.
In the professional realm, the two organizations, the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) and Women’s Tennis Association (WTA), run the tennis show. The most popular events organized are the Grand Slam tournaments: the Australian Open, the French Open, Wimbledon, and the U.S. Open. These events attract millions of tennis fans with the top tennis players around the world. Professional tennis players in the WTA earn income through winnings at tournaments. Income could also be earned by exempt players who sign a contract

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