A week ago, we first broke the news of the largest sports endorsement deal of all time (Yes, we are indeed playing fast and loose with the term “news” here). It’s a $3.4 billion (yes, billion with a “b”) endorsement deal between Windy City ThunderBolts pitcher Clay Chapman and Archer. The contract is set to run over a 10 million year period. Yes, you read that correctly, 10 million years.
The contract includes a clause enabling both parties the option to extend, once the deal has reached full term. In case you’re not interested in doing math right now, the arrangement equals $340 per year.
“There’s always been that one gift as a kid growing up that you never really got,” Chapman said. “In ten years, I’m going to get a jet ski.”
A press conference was held at Harry Caray’s (Chicago Sports Museum location in Water Tower Place) with Clay Chapman, Archer Men’s Leadership, and Thunderbolts GM Mike Lucas.
The presser included an oversized novelty check (pictured above) for $3.4 billion. The previous record holders for the largest sports endorsement deals were thought to be Nike, for their contracts with Lebron James and Cristian Ronaldo. Gillette’s deal with Tom Brady is also up there, the Archer rep said.
Everyone is really having a good time with this, and that’s great, because sports really is entertainment after all.
https://twitter.com/PaulMBanks/status/847144002747076609
We asked Clay if his life has been changed by the money.
“Yeah, it actually has, I got a couple new channels (on my cable package) that you can pay for and have for the year,” Chapman responded.
“Now I have a few of them.”
Lucas said, half-jokingly, at the beginning of the presser Wednesday that up until this moment he still thought this was kind of a joke. He also didn’t take the deal seriously at first.
“We thought it was one of the other teams in the league playing a prank on us,” Lucas said.
“We like to do that a lot, but then I said they built a website for this prank, it’s pretty darn good, so I knew right then it was legitimate, and the ball started rolling, and it’s been a great ride.”
“Never, in independent baseball, or the Frontier League (has anything like this been done before) and we’re excited to be the first.”
Below you’ll find audio of our exclusive with Clay Chapman, an Orlando native who’s been to 43 of the 50 United States:
https://soundcloud.com/p-m-banks/exclusive-with-clay-chapman-the-34-billion-man
And our exclusive with Thunderbolts GM Mike Lucas:
https://soundcloud.com/p-m-banks/exclusive-with-thunderbolts-gm-mike-lucas
Below is audio from Archer’s March 29, 2017 press conference announcing the $3.4 billion, 10 million year deal:
https://soundcloud.com/p-m-banks/34-billion-man-clay-chapman-windy-city-thunderbolts-pitcher-archer-mens-presser
Archer is a Chicago-based company that sells men’s home products. Said company co-founder John Bleeden:
“This is a very exciting day for the Archer Brand. Upon meeting, we were struck by how perfectly Mr. Chapman fit with our brand. He is a young pitcher with the best years of his career ahead of him,” Bleeden said of the Frontier League star, who is in his second season with the ThunderBolts. “We feel the same way about our company – our best years are coming.”
The Clay Chapman hype endorsement deal hype video can be viewed via the YouTube embed below:
Archer’s flagship product is a line of air fresheners with male-targeted scents such as European Sports Car and Hunting Lodge.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net and TheBank.News, partnered with FOX Sports Engage Network. and News Now. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times and NBC Chicago.com, contributes to Chicago Tribune.com, Bold, WGN CLTV and KOZN.
Follow him on Twitter, Instagram, Sound Cloud, LinkedIn and YouTube