Saturation Sponsorship to Annihilate Incumbents

“With Arena, Horst Dassler demonstrated just how hard- hitting his French team had become. Barely one year after the confrontation with his father, Arena swimwear duly made its debut at the European championships in Berlin, in August 1973. Two years later, at the World Championships in Cali, Colombia, roughly two thirds of the swimmers wore Arena. Horst Das- sler invested $100,000 in the championships, a substantial sum at the time. The money was spent on team sponsorship deals and an agreement with the organizers: the entire pool seemed covered with Arena diamonds. Speedo, the Australian brand that had previously held a virtual monopoly on the swimwear market, appeared completely dumbstruck by the advances of its French rival.”

“Bill Mathis duly brought his new friend along to Beconta, but this athlete would come at a price. Namath’s agent obtained an unprecedented deal worth $25,000 per year, paired with a pay- ment of twenty-five cents for each Namath shoe sold by Puma. “It was most unusual, to say the least,” chuckled Karl Wallach. The deal proved most rewarding for both sides, as Namath en- raptured the football crowds in impeccable white Puma boots. Inspired by the stupendous Jets quarterback, players on many other teams, from the Pittsburgh Steelers to the Miami Dolphins, began to wear the Formstripe. Beconta was selling Namath shoes by the hundreds of thousands.”