sign in sign up
<<
Home , Blake Griffin, Damian Lillard, Jimmy Butler, Klay Thompson, Markelle Fultz, Vince Carter

E-Poll: Curry Tops LeBron In Marketability, 'Greek Freak' Leads Up-And-Comers

Thursday, October 19, 2017

By Barry Janoff

October 19, 2017: The and are arguably on a course to meet in the NBA Finals for the fourth consecutive season.

Stephen Curry of the Warriors and LeBron James of the Cavaliers are also vying for another title: Most Marketable Player in the NBA.

According to E-Poll Market Research, which works with companies to track the positive and negative attributes related to the marketing qualities of more than 9.500 celebrities, athletes, politicians and newsmakers. the winner entering the 2017-18 season is . . .

Stephen Curry.

Curry’s E-Poll “E-Score” was 94 out of 100 versus James 90 out of 100, based on the responses of a representative sample of 1,100 people in the U.S. age 13+.

Although James had 54% awareness to Curry’s 41%, Curry pulled in a 57% appeal rating to James’ 41%.

In a separate Marketability 2017 poll of NBA Up-And-Comers, Giannis (“The Greek Freak”) Antetokounmpo of the had the highest E-Score at 58.

Markelle Fultz, the No. 1 overall pick by the this year, had the highest Appeal, 78%, De’Aaron Fox, the first-round draft pick this year by the , was second with 70% Appeal.

Behind Curry and James, the Top 10 players on E-Poll’s “NBA Marketability 2017” ranking were (in order) Dwayne Wade (Cavaliers), (), (Warriors), ( Clippers), ( Rockets), (Warriors), ( Thunder) and (). See Top 20 list below.

According to Encino, Calif.-based E-Score, “Appeal is the percent of respondents selecting ‘Like a lot’ or ‘Like,’ the top two boxes on a six- scale to describe their sentiment toward the subject.

“E-Score can range from 0-100 and is based on a formula rating each celebrity’s awareness and appeal as well as positive and negative measures.”

In the tale of the endorsement tape, James is about $20 million ahead of Curry.

James earns an NBA-leading $55 million in endorsements — second among athletes worldwide behind tennis star Roger Federer ($58 million in endorsements) — from such brands as Nike (pictured left), , Coca-Cola (Sprite), Intel, Beats and Verizon, according to Forbes.

Curry is second in the NBA (No. 6 worldwide) with $35 million in endorsements from deals that include Under Armour (pictured above), JP Morgan Chase, Brita, JBL Audio and Vivo.

With new Nike jerseys featuring ad patches this season, Curry and the Warriors have a three-year, $60 million deal with Rakuten while James and the Cavs will be sporting Goodyear patches via a three-year, $30 million deal.

Durant is third in the NBA (No. 7 overall) with $34 million in endorsements, followed by (Rockets) at $20 million, () at $14 million, Wade with $13 million and (Thunder) with $12 million in endorsements, per Forbes.

Paul, who joined the Rockets from the Clippers during the off-season, has the top Appeal score, 59%, among NBA players on the E-Poll list, tied with Manu Ginobili ().

Curry is second (57%), followed by (TEAM 55%), (, 55%) and Thompson (54%).

The average of all active NBA players is 58 overall E-Score, 11% Awareness and 50% Appeal.

Sponsorship spending on the NBA and its 30 teams hit a record $861 million in the 2016-17 season, a 7.8% increase from $799 million the previous season. That is expected to “skyrocket) this year due to the new Nike eight-year, $1 billion deal and the arrival of jersey-patch alliances, according to ESP Properties, .

E-Poll NBA Marketability 2017

1. Stephen Curry 94 E-Score 41% Awareness 57% Appeal

2. LeBron James 90 E-Score 54% Awareness 41% Appeal

3. 80 E-Score 28% Awareness 53% Appeal

4. Dirk Nowitzki 88 E-Score 20% Awareness 54% Appeal

5. Kevin Durant 87 E-Score 29% Awareness 51% Appeal

6. Blake Griffin 84 E-Score 19% Awareness 40% Appeal

7. Chris Paul 83 E-Score 17% Awareness 59% Appeal

8. Klay Thompson 82 E-Score 14% Awareness 54% Appeal

9. Carmelo Anthony 81 E-Score 19% Awareness 47% Appeal

10. Anthony Davis 80 E-Score 15% Awareness 50% Appeal

11. Vince Carter 79 E-Score 12% Awareness 55% Appeal

12. Isaiah Thomas 78 E-Score 17% Awareness 47% Appeal

13. Russell Westbrook 77 E-Score 14% Awareness 53% Appeal

14. 77 E-Score 11% Awareness 49% Appeal

15. James Harden 76 E-Score 20% Awareness 41% Appeal

16. Jeremy Lin 76 E-Score 12% Awareness 46% Appeal

17. Manu Ginobili 73 E-Score 13% Awareness 59% Appeal

18. 70 E-Score 17% Awareness 45% Appeal

19. 70 E-Score 16% Awareness 46% Appeal

20. Jimmy Butler 70 E-Score 14% Awareness 55% Appeal

SOURCE: E-Poll Market Research