He
wears history around his neck.
His
net worth's about to skyrocket by tens of millions of dollars.
He
has a cheering section that includes the leader of the free world and a fair
share of the 1.3 billion people living behind the Great Wall.
And
as he scrolled through his text messages on Wednesday, searching for the one
his childhood pal in Baltimore sent him just before he'd made history as
arguably the greatest Olympian ever, Michael Phelps had the world on a string.
"He
said, 'It's ridiculous how many times I have to see your " Phelps said,
laughing as he read the message before a packed ugly face,'
international news conference at the National Aquatic Center in Beijing.
Bad
news, buddy. You're going to be seeing a lot more of that "ugly"
mug.
Phelps
is, at the moment, the face of the Summer Olympics, an historic event his
agent long ago dubbed "the most significant Games ever from a marketing
standpoint."
And now that it's showtime, Phelps -- a standard-bearer for sponsorship dollars even before these Olympics began -- certainly is delivering...
...And
his list of big-money sponsors isn't just limited to swimsuit apparel and
flip-flops. Phelps, who spent the last four years training in Ann Arbor, also
is a pitchman for Visa, AT&T, Kellogg's, Hilton and Omega watches, in
addition to his headliner act with Speedo.
"Truly,
we've been able to leverage his popularity with all of our accounts because he
has transcended swimming," said Stu Isaac, senior vice president for
marketing and sales for Speedo. "It's helping Speedo become cooler and
addressing a younger market outside just that core competitive swimmer."
It
was through Speedo that Phelps' agent, Peter Carlisle, head of Octagons
Olympic and action sports division, made the biggest splash leading up to the
2004 Athens Games.
Speedo
offered a $1 million bounty if Phelps, only 19 at the time, could equal
Spitz's record. Phelps just missed, but the offer still stands for Beijing,
where Phelps now seems destined to win at least seven golds, if not eight.
"I
think it's marvelous, not only for him," Spitz said at the U.S. Olympic
trials last month. "And I think it's great for the sport of swimming.
It's certainly great for the Olympic movement. And NBC has got to thank him
immensely, because he's their meal ticket the first week of competition."
In
fact, Phelps is a primary reason why NBC, which paid $3.5 billion in rights
fees for five Olympics from 2000 to 2008, demanded an altered Olympic schedule
in Beijing. The swimming finals -- as well as gymnastics' team and individual
finals -- are being held in the morning in China, in order to showcase them on
prime-time television in the United States.
Thanks
to a spike in TV ratings compared to the Athens Olympics four years ago, his
sponsors are cashing in, too.
According
to research conducted by Joyce Julius & Associates, Phelps' air
time on NBC has been worth $3.6 million for Speedo alone.
"I
had two of my friends just get over here (to Beijing) yesterday," Phelps
said. "They were saying people in the U.S. are just going crazy. It's
pretty cool to have a whole country behind you and sort of on your side. No
matter where Americans are in the world, they're watching. And they're
cheering. And that's a pretty special feeling." ...