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You’ve heard of in-between jobs, what about in-between sponsors?
Most top-ranked tennis players are sponsored by not only racket companies, but also shoe and clothing brands. The American tennis player Danielle Collins, for example, is sponsored by Babolat for her racket. But Collins, the No. 27 seed in the tournament, will play in her first-ever Grand Slam final without a clothing or shoe deal. That’s because her sponsorship with New Balance ended last summer, a source close to Collins informed MarketWatch.
The 28-year-old Collins is currently ranked No. 30 in the world, but will be in the top 10 next week because of her great success at the Australian Open. She has made $3.75 million on the court during her career, and will make more than $2 million if she wins the tournament. And she still nets more than $1.1 million if she loses in the final.
She will also likely sign some lucrative sponsorship deals, especially if she wins the title.
See also: How Kobe Bryant made his $600 million fortune — and who is in charge of it now?
Throughout the tournament, Collins has worn clothing from multiple companies, including Adidas. And she has had one visible logo on her shirt, for Dynasty Financial Partners.
Dynasty Financial Partners is a wealth advisory firm based in St. Petersburg, Fla., where Collins grew up. Collins is also a client of the firm.
Dynasty CEO Shirl Penney said during a 2021 interview that, “Part of what we like to do is support local. And we love to support women in sports and business, so there was a lot of alignment there. Once we met Danielle, we really enjoyed the conversation and we pretty quickly signed her up.”
Despite the local sentiment in the CEO’s statement, Dynasty is no small company — Dynasty made $46.2 million in revenue in 2020 and recently filed for an IPO, according to the Securities and Exchange Commission.
See also: NFL’s Odell Beckham Jr. took his $750,000 salary in bitcoin — how much did that end up costing him?
Sponsorship deals for athletes, especially the highest-ranked tennis players, have the potential to bring in more money than actually playing professional tennis. For example, last year top tennis players like Naomi Osaka, as well as Serena and Venus Williams, all made more money from sponsorships and business deal than they did playing tennis.
Collins will play the world’s top female tennis player, the Australian Ashleigh Barty, in the final. She said it’ll be “spectacular” to take on the women’s No. 1-ranked player.
The championship match will be played on Saturday Jan. 28, at 3:30 a.m. EST time.
