Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, June 27, 1993 TAG: 9306270111
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: D1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: CHRISTINE BRENNAN THE WASHINGTON POST
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
Who is more marketable?
"Definitely, Sheryl Swoopes," Vaccaro said. "Her name is meaningful in basketball circles. Swoopes as in hoops: It flows off the tongue. She is a big star. George Lynch, on the other hand, was part of a very good team. I don't think there are any endorsement possibilities for him unless he blossoms into a star in the NBA."
But who will make more money playing professional basketball? Definitely, Lynch.
The Roanoke native, who is projected to be selected in the middle of the first round of Wednesday's NBA draft, likely will receive a salary of between $1 million and $1.3 million next season, according to agents and others in the sports marketing world. His endorsements will be negligible his rookie season, perhaps nothing more than free shoes and clothes.
Swoopes, who will go to Europe to play professionally because there is no U.S. women's professional basketball league, will be paid about $200,000 in her first year. At least half of that will be in endorsements, the experts say, even though she will spend nine months of the year overseas, well out of range of U.S. television cameras.
Over two days in early April, Swoopes and Lynch shared the experience of helping their teams win national championships. Swoopes, the 1992-93 collegiate player of the year, scored 47 points - the most ever by a man or woman in a national championship game - in Texas Tech's 84-82 victory over Ohio State. The following evening, Lynch scored 12 points in North Carolina's 77-71 victory over Michigan. He was an integral part of the Tar Heels' success, but he wasn't the star.
Almost immediately, their attention turned to pro basketball. Their coaches started fielding telephone calls from agents, and their home phones rang incessantly. In Swoopes' case, the calls were of a sexist nature, some coming at 2 a.m., making threats and harassing her because of her new-found fame.
This was the beginning of the realization for Swoopes that being a female basketball star is something quite different from being a male basketball star.
"People say, `If you were a male, you would have gone in the [NBA draft] lottery,' " Swoopes said. "It's really frustrating to think about it, to think that men have so many more opportunities than women. Going overseas and staying in the United States, those are just two totally different things. The NBA, you watch it on television all the time, but you don't hear anything about women playing overseas, unless you know their college coaches and ask them how so and so is doing. It's sad and frustrating."
Said Lynch: "I definitely feel sorry for her. Guys coming up know there's an NBA career after college. The women know they have to go overseas. For me, it would be a disappointment if there was no NBA and I had to sign with a team in Europe. Being an American, you want to stay here and play in front of your family and friends. She can't do that."
Because previous attempts to start a women's professional basketball league in the United States have failed, Swoopes would have to play in Europe, most likely either Spain or Italy. There would be no draft to place her in a city; she would have to shop herself to the highest bidder.
Thus, Swoopes would need a good agent, one with contacts in international women's basketball. Dozens called, more than 50 in all, but few were qualified. The initial screening was done by Texas Tech coach Marsha Sharp.
"After you talk to them for a period of time, and they can't even say what countries women are playing in, you know," Sharp said. "They might do a great job for men, but not for women."
Swoopes needed not only an agent, but a manager as well. For that job, she chose Nancy Lieberman-Cline, the women's basketball legend who once managed tennis star Martina Navratilova's career. She and Lieberman-Cline recently selected Bruce Levy Associates in New York, which places an average of 60 American women each year in foreign pro basketball leagues.
For Lynch, who has not yet selected an agent, the process is much easier. Coach Dean Smith is talking with the agents who call; few, if any, are unknown to him. They don't need to have foreign contacts because Lynch, barring negotiation problems with his NBA team, is going to play in the United States. And the agents are so sure of how to sell a male player that they don't need the help of a manager such as Lieberman-Cline.
"It's different for a woman, but that's okay," said Lieberman-Cline, president of ProMotion Events Inc. of Omaha, Neb., a sports marketing firm. "We're breaking new ground with Sheryl. Women's sports hasn't had a team sport athlete with the star appeal that Sheryl has. She's young and pretty and articulate, and companies like that. She's the female Jordan."
What awaits Swoopes? Her starting salary will be about one-tenth of what Lynch will make if he indeed is selected in the middle of the first round of the NBA draft as expected. Some experts say she'll make $100,000, some say it might be a little less the first year, others say it will be a bit more.
Salaries for U.S. women basketball players overseas range from $25,000 to $250,000 a year, Lieberman-Cline said.
On the other hand, for Swoopes, endorsements are part of the package. She has agreed in principle to a four-year deal with Nike for advertising and endorsements.
Estimates vary on what Swoopes will make in endorsements in her first year, but it's expected to be around $100,000, including her Nike deal. That's likely to be much more than Lynch makes in endorsements his first year.
"You look at a guy like George Lynch, and he's going to make big money on his contract," Lieberman-Cline said. "But Sheryl isn't going to do too badly, either. It's apples and oranges, but apples aren't so bad."
by CNB