Gabby Douglas, 16, made history on Thursday by becoming the first African-American to win a gold medal during women's gymnastics all-around. Douglas and her team also won a gold medal in the women's gymnastics team event.
Her win not only solidified her in Olympic history but it means she has multi-million dollar endorsement deals coming her way. Douglas is already on a box of Kellog's Corn Flakes who is a sponsor of the U.S. Olympic Committee.
Douglas appeared on the Today Show Friday with Mary Lou Retton, Carly Patterson and Nastia Liukin--all past American winners of the Olympic all-around. Douglas said on the show, "It took a lot of hard days in the gym, a lot of drive," she said. "Gold medals are made out of sweat, blood and tears and effort in the gym every day."
On July 23 Douglas signed her first endorsement deal with P&G where she will be featured in their "Raising an Olympian" campaign. Industry experts say it is likely that Douglas will sign more endorsrement deals.
Founding partner of Property Consulting Group, Dan Migala said the firm estimates that Douglas will earn $9-$10 million through endorsements over the next four years. He said to Forbes." "With Olympic athletes, especially individuals who win gold medals, brands look for connection between the athlete's values and the brand's values. The values companies look for are greatness, gold medal champions and hard work. Gabby has all of those."
A.J. Maestes who is the president of Navigate Research also anticipates Douglas to pull in at least $2 million from endorsement deals. He said to Forbes, "She's been featured very favorably in NBC's broadcasts. You add that to her gold medals and the fact that she's young with a healthy chance of coming back [for the 2016 Olympics], and it's a big story for brands."
P&G's Raising an Olympian campaign:
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