Sponsor Favorite Manning Headed to Denver

Advertisement

Several Wall Street companies soon will be undergoing some high-altitude training, because the NFL’s prize pony — Peyton Manning — is headed to the Rocky Mountains.

The Indianapolis Colts quarterback/institution reportedly agreed to a five-year, $96 million deal with the Denver Broncos, according to ESPN. The Tennessee Titans and San Francisco 49ers were among other suitors that came up short.

Now, a number of companies likely will go navy-and-orange. Peyton Manning has long been an endorsement kingpin, and recently was ranked fourth on Sports Illustrated’s list of the 50 highest-earning American athletes — and No. 1 among football players — at $15 million. Peyton Manning’s deal with PepsiCo’s (NYSE:PEP) Gatorade is an obvious sponsorship match made in heaven, but he also has done commercials for Sony (NYSE:SNE), MasterCard (NYSE:MA), Kraft’s (NYSE:KFT) Oreos and Papa John’s Pizza (NASDAQ:PZZA).

Of course, a few other companies could go along with the Manning ride. Corporate sponsors for the Denver Broncos in 2011 included Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO), Anheuser-Busch InBev (NYSE:BUD) and Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA), and Manning’s arrival almost certainly will bring more partners on board.

Losing out is global investing management firm Invesco (NYSE:IVZ), which gave up the field’s naming rights to Sports Authority last year.

The one person left out in the cold is Tim Tebow, who reportedly will be shopped around to other teams around the NFL. But at least one sponsor will stick with him through thick and thin — underwear maker Jockey told TMZ the company “supports him 100%.”

— Kyle Woodley, InvestorPlace Assistant Editor


Article printed from InvestorPlace Media, https://investorplace.com/2012/03/sponsor-favorite-peyton-manning-headed-to-denver-broncos/.

©2024 InvestorPlace Media, LLC