How Walking Leads You To Riches
Professional sportspeople step into greatness by extending their movement and allowing other brands to open their checkbook to them
Walking is the easiest but also the hardest sport to master.
And ever since an athlete has been a toddler they’ve naturally graduated to walking without needing a coach to do so.
It’s been as easy as wiggling on your butt one day to rolling on your knee the next and eventually popping one foot under yourself to hoist yourself up and take a step.
And before you’ll know it you have an audience cheering every step wanting to grab a camera and celebrate that you`re upright.
Of course, usually, that audience is comprised of one or two of your parents. But still, it’s a crowd who’s cheering you on. And they’re delighted you’ve somehow graduated to using your feet to travel.
Those first steps represent newfound independence. You’re now able to see things from a different vantage point. And you can see chair tops and sofa cushions that you only dreamt of seeing. You’ve reached cult hero status in your house because you’re now a walker.
Even if you fall back on the ground with a crash again you’ve made your first steps and more will follow because walking is the sophisticated choice of traveling for human beings.
But although it has many advantages and can be a sport in its own right it can also be considered the basis for many forms of athletic movement that leads to greater professional sporting movements in many other sports.
Because walking is required in many sports.
And without an ability to hold your balance and move fluidly on two feet it’s difficult to see how a person can compete when a greater degree of speed and mechanical movement that includes jogging, running, twisting, bending, jumping, leaning, and jinking is added to your humble walk.
Without mastering a good enough gait in the first place, being a great sportsperson is already compromised.
And that’s how many medical and physical therapists judge if an athlete is moving well enough in the first place. They look at their walk and how they utilize their movement. Depending on whether they are efficient or not they’ll begin to be able to see if they’ll be fit enough to compete or play their sport.
Assessing a player’s walk also lets the therapist know if a person is likely to be carrying an underlying injury.
Or if they may be setting themselves up for one in the near future.
And when you think about it walking dictates whether an athlete will make it to become a professional sports person or not.
Because all top professional organizations and sporting bodies have expert physical therapists that assess athletes before offering them a contract. And when they do agents are peaking in the door to sign them up as their latest star to be watched out for.
And that’s when external sponsors want a piece of you.
You’ll be offered brand deals to represent. That’s where real money can be made.
Look at Ronaldo in football.
He’s earned enough over the years from Nike to last him a lifetime. Reports have it that he’ll have earned 1 billion dollars by his career end by the famed sporting goods company. He was also partnered with Herbal Life nutritional products. In 2018 the company had net profits of over $280 million.
Ronaldo also partnered with Castrol and was known to have earned $7 million for a two-year deal. Whereas the Chinese telecommunications company gave him $4 million for a one-year contract.
And there are other sponsorship deals as well that have earned him a lot of money away from the game of football.
His rival Leo Messi signed a sponsorship deal with Adidas back in 2006.
He reportedly received £18 million annually for the deal. He also earned millions annually from Qatar-based International Telecommunications company Ooredoo, Pepsi cola, and their chip brand Lay’s, beer manufacturer Budweiser and many other brands.
Track and field star Andre De Grasse’s deal with Puma was reportedly worth $11.25 million US.
Other athletes are also sponsored external to their professional sports contracts. The NFL’s Harrison Butker’s partnership with NOVUS Clothing Company made him the first-ever NFL star to be paired with an athletic apparel company. And baseball’s Mike Trout made over $3 million through sponsorships with BodyArmor, Rawlings, and Nike.
So it’s not only about getting the contract to the player at the highest level of the sport.
Because even though you do and agents come looking for you it’s only the first rung on the ladder of making money in professional sport. As sponsors will love to see you coming if you’ve got the talent and the longevity in your contract.
Of course, you need to have a good agent. Because agents are the ones that are connected to the world of commerce. They know the valuation of athletes and the marketplace too. They’re the ones that have experience and have seen other athletes before you gain big sponsorship.
So having a good one is very important, not only for your contract talks but for making money in other areas of the marketplace too.
And it all goes back to learning how to walk.
Because when you do you have the world at your feet.
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