It is not possible in the modern world to read a magazine or watch TV without a sports star encouraging you to buy many different items. Whether it is footballs, trainers, watches or washing powder a sports personality will try and sell it to you.The advertisement market loves to use sports people to sell their products as many people know and follow them.

Popular sports stars now earn as much through advertising as they do from competing and there are many examples of this.Probably the best-known sports star in Britain is David Beckham who earns in the region of £4.6 million a year from his club Manchester United. While many people think this is too much for kicking a football around a field he earns more from people who want themselves and their product to be associated with him. His many sponsorship deals include; Adidas, Pepsi, Police Sunglasses, and many others. All of these companies together pay him about £5 million a year.Another sports star who earns more through advertising than they do competing is Anna Kournikova the Russian tennis player. She is the highest paid woman tennis player but is yet to win a major tournament.

While this is all good for the major players in sports the competitors and teams in the lower leagues are struggling.One example of this is the recent crisis in football; many teams are going bankrupt, as they cannot afford the player wages and prices. This is because the teams in the premiership all have huge sponsorship deals as companies know that their logo will be seen by millions, but companies do not want to invest very much money in teams from the lower leagues as not may people will see their logo. This in turn is meaning that lower league teams cannot buy good players or are forced to sell their good players meaning less and less people will go and watch their matches eventually forcing the club into bankruptcy.Over the last month people around the world have been watching the World Cup, which is possibly the most lucrative sports event for advertising companies. Millions of pounds have been spent securing that all-important “official sponsors of the world cup” deal which ensures a boost in sales.

Many other companies have jumped on the bandwagon. The new Nike advert is surprisingly on in the duration of the World Cup and even more surprisingly on in between the football matches them despite not being official sponsors of the World Cup.Sports clubs and sportsmen and women should remember that it is their sport that made them famous and that should be their main concern not companies who want them to sell their goods.