Naomi Osaka learned to play tennis in Queens, the site of her stunning victory at … [+]
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Naomi Osaka burst onto the international sports scene two years ago when she defeated Serena Williams in an infamous US Open final for her first Grand Slam title at the age of 20. Osaka rose to number 1 in the world, and with the flow of sponsorship deals, she surpassed Williams as the world’s highest paid female athlete with a record of $ 37 million in the 12 months to June.
One of the Osaka sponsors is attempting an equally meteoric rise. According to Euromonitor, the emerging sports drink BodyArmor had a 0.2% market share in 2014, but reached 10% last year. It’s still far behind Gatorade’s 72% stake, but co-founder Mike Repole is aiming for 2025 to surpass the industry giant.
BodyArmor added this week to its sponsorship arsenal with a multi-year deal to make the low-calorie BodyArmor Lyte the official sports drink of the US Open Tennis Championships, which begins August 31. BodyArmor is already the official sports drink of Major League Soccer and UFC; its sponsorship partners include star athletes James Harden, Mike Trout, Megan Rapinoe, Dustin Johnson, Christian McCaffrey, Sabrina Ionescu and Trae Young.
The US Tennis Association sponsorship includes a refurbishment of public tennis court facilities in Jamaica, Queens, where Osaka, now a two-time Grand Slam champion, began playing the sport at the age of 3 after her family took up the sport. is relocated from Japan. Queens is the same neighborhood in New York City that hosts the Open, as has BodyArmor since its founding in 2011.
“I spent so much time on the courts that we are now renovating and I dreamed of becoming big and winning the Grand Slam,” says Osaka. Forbes Via Email. “I want to help kids who are in the same position I was in almost 20 years ago.”
A sibling rivalry took place on the pitch between Osaka and her older sister, Mari, who also plays on the WTA Tour. “My father, my sister and I would show up on the pitch and spend hours training and playing. It was on these courts that I lost to my sister almost every single day, “he says.
Osaka joined the BodyArmor roster in 2019 after she was introduced to the brand by Kobe Bryant, who helped the Osaka mentor after his sudden star turn. Bryant was BodyArmor’s third largest shareholder, after Repole and Coca-Cola
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This year’s US Open will take place without fans, but BodyArmor products will be available to players during matches and practice. The brand is also planning a digital and social marketing campaign with its athletes during the event.
In a typical year with fans in attendance, the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center is an attractive property for marketers due to the demographics of the fan base. Women outperformed men last year with a ratio of 56 to 44, a rarity in major sporting events; 78% of fans had at least a college degree compared to 35% in the United States overall. Median household income was $ 216,000, with fans ready to spend on clothing, equipment, watches, and financial services.
Onsite activation opportunities are a significant portion of US Open sponsorships. The lack of fans means that sponsors in some cases pay less than 50% of their usual fees, according to Lew Sherr, USTA’s chief revenue officer.
The WTA Tour was halted for five months due to the coronavirus pandemic. This week’s inaugural Top Seed Open in Lexington, Kentucky marks the first event in the United States since the Oracle Challenger Series in early March. Osaka is expected to return to action next week at the Western & Southern Open, which has been transferred to the National Tennis Center from his usual home outside Cincinnati, Ohio.
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