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Mikaela Shiffrin

Swede

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Mikaela is big/huge in Europe (more so than in the US—my semi-educated guess...). She outshines the local athletes over here (not talking about in the course) and little German and Norwegian girls don’t want to be like ’Vicky’ or ’Ragnhild’, they want to be Mikaela. And it’s not ”just” her skiing. She has a very attractive, active and confident American aura. She ... sells. Maze never that big talking broad publicity. A bit more x-rated. But a tremendous athlete and skier. A bit difficult I hear. Never met her in person.
 

James

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Mikaela is big/huge in Europe (more so than in the US—my semi-educated guess...). She outshines the local athletes over here (not talking about in the course) and little German and Norwegian girls don’t want to be like ’Vicky’ or ’Ragnhild’, they want to be Mikaela. And it’s not ”just” her skiing. She has a very attractive, active and confident American aura. She ... sells. Maze never that big talking broad publicity. A bit more x-rated. But a tremendous athlete and skier. A bit difficult I hear. Never met her in person.
Well Mikaela has had the advantage, for her, of the social media era. It fit with her age/personality and girl fan base. The performance and work works for the other fan base.

I hope we'll get an end to the breathless post race interviews.
 

Monique

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It's not really personality. Bode is not highly personable in a social/tv sense.

Personable != Personality.

Also, he was/is hot :) Never hurts.
 

hbear

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@Primoz is pretty much spot on from what i have heard from insiders as well.

Shiffrin’s contact with Atomic is nowhere near Hirscher dollars. It’s not small but not at the same level for sure.

Prize money is a different story as I believe it’s one of the few (are there any others, can’t think of anything off the top of my head) where men and women compete for effectively the same overall purse.

But contact, not quite the same there. Similarly (I cant confirm so just thinking out loud) do we suspect Shiffrin is making the same money as Federer for Barilla’s contract?
 

Muleski

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I'll post more later on. Busy for the day. I know a fair amount about this, and about some of the athletes' situations.

The game has changed drastically over the past 10-15 years. It's totally different in terms of how much money there is, where it comes from, and how it gets ultimately "distributed." The numbers and types of sponsors, how they estimate, value and compensate for value, etc. Let's say that the way the ski/boot companies compensate is the most different.

The other sources of income can be substantial. There was no RedBull years ago. Nike? Under Armor., etc. It goes on and on. Rolex, Longines. The checks being cashed by the best are many, big, and from many sources.

Yes Social Media is beyond huge and important on this. LV's near 2Mil Insta followers have set her up to grow that number and likely explode her post race career income. Not all of the ski companies are the same, or even close in terms of how they value an athlete.

Anybody familiar with the Pareto Rule, the 85/15 principle? Well in the ski equipment and money side of things far FEWER than 15% of those who are in the game {think top 100 world ranking at most} are earning far more than 85% of the total compensation.

In terms of total income, LV and MS are doing just fine. In terms of money from the ski contracts, LV does lag Svindal by a bunch, as does MS lag MH. By a great deal, I believe. Many factors. Now with their new owners, who knows which way Atomic will head with this down the road. They feel even less like an Austrian company, an their presence son the WC seems to be diminished.....below the top rungs.

So much change. I'll say that the people who frequent this place are absolutely not the "average" in terms of awareness of who these people are. We're the biggest ski market in the world and if you held up pictures of Hircher and Svindal in lifelines, those recognizing them work be in a very distinct and tiny minority. Not the case with LV and MH, and absolutely not the case in Europe. As mentioned LV and now in particular, MS, are incredibly hot commodities. MS is probably being instructed to learn to speak German in addition to her French.

It's a different game than when the dream of most Euro skiers was to be able to build a very small guestHaus in their home village and teach in or run a ski school. Many on the WC won't have a chance of that. Then to whom the money is really flowing......yeah. Different. Svindal is already successful in the Private Equity and Venture Capital business. He will also earn a fortune in personal appearances and speaking fees.

Bode? Diifferent.
 
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markojp

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Men get a much longer behavioral leash than women. Mikaela is the proverbial 'girl next door' who happens to be a once in a generation athlete... 'squeaky clean' so far. She can sell pasta to young women around the developed world. I heard somewhere that she was worth $21m at age 21. Dunno, but that's pretty darn good for a very minor sport.
 

Primoz

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Similarly (I cant confirm so just thinking out loud) do we suspect Shiffrin is making the same money as Federer for Barilla’s contract?
In this case it's not just men vs. women but also skiing vs. tennis. I'm sure Serena Williams would get 10 times amount Shiffrin is getting if she would have deal with Barilla, but then again, all prize money in all WC races together doesn't come close to what winner of Wimbledon gets :) Ok maybe a bit of exaggeration, but it will be a while, before winner of DH in Kitz (best paid race) will get 2.6mio eur, which is amount men singles winner got in Wimbledon 2018. Actually... also women in Wimbledon get same money. Nice! I thought skiing is more or less only sport where prize money for men and women is same, if you can say so, considering it depends on races and you can't compare Kitz with let's say Maribor. But in Zagreb where you have both women and men SL, women and men get same prize money.[/user]
 

dj61

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There are many variables that determine an athlete’s marketing value. But the key here is: exposure. The more exposure an athlete gets, the more he or she will earn. Mikaela is an phenomenon. She is all over the media as a one in a billion athlete, as is Marcel, as was Lindsey. That is the reason Mika makes more money than men like Paris and Pinturault ever will.
 

Primoz

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That is the reason Mika makes more money than men like Paris and Pinturault ever will.
But does she? What we see is prize money from races. What we don't see and what is normally kept as secret are contracts with sponsors. So it's pretty hard to guess what money Paris or Pinturault or Shiffrin really gets from sponsors. As for prize money it's normal she gets more then anyone else, as she won 17 WC races, while Paris won 7 and Pinturault 2.
 

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But does she? What we see is prize money from races. What we don't see and what is normally kept as secret are contracts with sponsors. So it's pretty hard to guess what money Paris or Pinturault or Shiffrin really gets from sponsors. As for prize money it's normal she gets more then anyone else, as she won 17 WC races, while Paris won 7 and Pinturault 2.

And what we don't see is all the sponsor contracts 'outside' the ski universe. Really love Paris, but he (or Pintu) is nowhere near the market value of Mikaela Shiffrin. She is tapping into becoming a real celebrity. Hirscher not really there. Forget about Schwarz, even I would have a hard time picking him out on a lineup of looka alikes.
 

fatbob

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Mikaela is big/huge in Europe (more so than in the US—my semi-educated guess...). She outshines the local athletes over here (not talking about in the course) and little German and Norwegian girls don’t want to be like ’Vicky’ or ’Ragnhild’, they want to be Mikaela. And it’s not ”just” her skiing. She has a very attractive, active and confident American aura. She ... sells. Maze never that big talking broad publicity. A bit more x-rated. But a tremendous athlete and skier. A bit difficult I hear. Never met her in person.

True enough. Bus shelters even in the heart of the Tirol have her promoting whatever luxury watch is paying her $$$.
 
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Tricia

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Men get a much longer behavioral leash than women. Mikaela is the proverbial 'girl next door' who happens to be a once in a generation athlete... 'squeaky clean' so far. She can sell pasta to young women around the developed world. I heard somewhere that she was worth $21m at age 21. Dunno, but that's pretty darn good for a very minor sport.
In the Fallon interview linked by 4ster, she talks about the lack of a pay gap in WC Racing and said that she is outearning the guys because of her performance. I'm not surprised.
She is fun, poised and talented.
 

markojp

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In the Fallon interview linked by 4ster, she talks about the lack of a pay gap in WC Racing and said that she is outearning the guys because of her performance. I'm not surprised.
She is fun, poised and talented.

Yes. Exactly. I meant nothing at all negative about Mikaela. To clarify, my point was that related to the gender pay gap in many sports, women are held to much higher standards of behavior than men off the hill/court/field, and this affects contract yen/euros/dollars etc...
 
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Tricia

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Yes. Exactly. I meant nothing at all negative about Mikaela. To clarify, my point was that related to the gender pay gap in many sports, women are held to much higher standards of behavior than men off the hill/court/field, and this affects contract yen/euros/dollars etc...
@markojp I didn't take it as offensive, just that you are probably correct.
 

Chef23

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I never saw the Fallon spot it really highlights her appeal. She just seems like a fun well adjusted young woman who is an absolute killer when you put her in the starting gate.
 

karlo

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4ster, thanks for the video.

karlo, thanks for the dance video. She can dance, sorta dances her way through most slalom courses.

Alas, if I posted a video of my dancing to a recording of I Love Your Smile, it would get taken down in milliseconds by the automated copyright infringement police. You know, otherwise I would, to share my oh-so incredible dancing skills with you all. If only I were a celebrity. Oh well, in another life.
 

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