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Golf endorsements pinched① by economy

经济海啸下的高尔夫代言紧缩

文/乔恩·秀 Jon Show

译/小恩 Xiaoen

源/Sport Business Journal

The state of the economy is creating a difficult endorsement market for golf agents who typically spend the fourth quarter trying to secure corporate and equipment sponsorships for the following year.

金融海啸造成了现今代言市场的困难，以至于高尔夫经纪人基本上都耗尽了第四季度的预算来确保明年企业和球具的赞助。

“I’ve been doing this for 15 or 16 years and this is the worst year yet,” said agent Andrew Witlieb, who has done deals for Jim Furyk. “You look next year you’ll see the fewest new deals you’ll ever see.”

“我已从事这行十五六年了，今年是最糟糕的，”吉姆·福瑞克的经纪人安德鲁·韦特利比说道，“观望来年将是赞助和代言合同最少的一年”。

Early signs②  point to shorter deals with fewer dollars and a shift away from the influx of financial services companies.

较短期的低额合同以及从金融服务公司转移抽离的先兆已经日趋明显。

“Dollars are coming down a little bit,” said longtime agent Mac Barnhardt, who works with Davis Love III and Boo Weekley. “I think you’re going to have to get more regional and more creative. I think it’s going to get tough.”

“美元稍微回落了一些”，长期与大卫·拉夫三世和波·维克利合作的经纪人马克·巴恩哈特说道，“我想大家都不得不更考虑地区性及创新性。情况将越来越艰难。”

An expected decrease in corporate marketing budgets does not bode well③, said brand consultants, many of whom are fielding more pitches from agents than in past years.

可预期的公司市场预算缩减是不好的预兆，品牌顾问说道，与过去几年相比他们大多数对经纪人已是望而却步。

“Companies aren’t spending money,” said Ed Kiernan, CMO④ of Peter Jacobsen Sports. “They’re taking a hard look at their marketing budgets, and player deals are the first to be scrutinized⑤.”

“企业将不会多花钱，”皮特雅克布森体育公司的首席营销官爱德·基尔南说道，“他们正为市场预算发愁，而球员合同将是首要细查的。”

Because of uncertainty about the duration of the current economic downturn, the expectation among many agents is that new deals and extensions will be signed for shorter lengths than in previous years.

鉴于如今经济萧条持续时间的不确定性，许多经纪人预期新签署的合同及范围将比以往短。

“Getting the long-term commitments will be tricky because there is some instability right now,” said John Mascatello, head of SFX Golf.

“长期合同将很难处理，因为现在存在一些不稳定的因素，”SFX Golf的总裁约翰·马斯科德罗说道。

National deals with financial services and automakers, two historically robust categories, are virtually nonexistent⑥. However, agents are seeing an uptick⑦ in interest among companies in the technology, telecommunications and shipping categories.

与以往最具竞争力的金融服务业和汽车制造商的全国性合同将不复存在。然而，经纪人正在对科技、电信以及船务公司的兴趣日益上升。

Brand consultants anticipate smaller activation budgets, limiting the dollars available to hire athletes for corporate events or feature existing endorsers in advertising campaigns.

品牌顾问期望用少量的预算和有限的金钱为公司活动雇用体育明星或在广告活动中很好的利用现有的代言人。

Steve Loy, president and CEO of Gaylord Sports Management, did deals with KPMG and Barclays earlier this year for Phil Mickelson, but said he has since seen “serious effects” from the fallout in the financial industry.

盖劳德体育管理公司的主席兼首席执行官斯蒂夫·罗伊今年早期和毕马威及巴克莱为菲尔·米克尔森达成协议，但现在他说已看到金融产业衰退带来的严重后果。

The general consensus⑧ is that there are still high-seven-figure deals in non-endemic⑨ categories available for star players, but those outside the top 15 are getting squeezed. “Everyone either wants the superstar or the next big thing,” said Bart Kendall, a brand consultant for IMG.

普遍的意见认为明星球员仍然存在与非地方性企业达成七位数合同的可能，但那些排名在15以外的球员将没那么幸运。“大家都需要超级明星或未来之星，”IMG品牌顾问巴特·坎德尔说道。

注释：

①     Pinch：收缩、节省；

②     Early sign：先兆；

③     Bode well：好的预兆；

④     CMO：首席营销官；

⑤     Scrutinize：细查；

⑥     Be virtually nonexistent：不复存在的；

⑦     Uptick：上升、报升；

⑧     General consensus：普遍意见；

⑨     Non-endemic：非地方性的。