Popular Baseball Players Score With Brand Marketers

A big baseball market and big names can secure players big deals when it comes to marketers -- even those that are retired, according to a story by Wayner Friedman at mediapost.com.

SI photo

A new marketability study shows two New York Yankees -- Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera -- as the top players going into the 2011 season. Even then, Derek Jeter is far and a way the biggest name earning more than three times the scores of his nearest competitor (and teammate) Mariano Riveria, according to Nielsen and E-Poll's N-Score ranking.

Jeter posted a national N-Score of 165 and local N-Score of 407. Riveria earned a 56 national and 226 local number.

"With a score more than three times his nearest competitor, it's no wonder he's been the face for Nike, Gatorade, Fleet Bank, Ford, VISA and more," stated Stephen Master, vice president of Nielsen Sports. In third place was Josh Hamilton of the Texas Rangers, with a 40 national score and a 232 local number. Then comes Albert Pujols of the St. Louis Cardinals (40 national; 471 local); Evan Longoria, Tampa Bay Rays (39, 131); Ichiro Suzuki, Seattle Mariners (37; 454); Chipper Jones, Atlanta Braves (36, 274); Joe Mauer, Minnesota Twins (36, 620); Alex Rodriguez, New York Yankees (35, 151); and Roy Halladay, Philadelphia Phillies (34, 336).

Read more here.