Since returning to tennis as a mother in 2018, Serena Williams has not ruled the courts with the same dominance she once displayed, but has overtaken her pre-pregnancy mark in one key category: off-court endorsements.
For many years, Williams’ rank on the list of elite athlete endorsements lagged behind her remarkable career accomplishments.
But over the last few years, as she has become more identified with motherhood and non-tennis pursuits such as venture capital, Williams has at last become a superstar endorser not limited to athletic brands.
“She has no issues with polarizing anyone, which makes her a good marketing celebrity,” said Henry Schafer, executive vice president of Q Scores, whose ratings are a well-known benchmark for measuring A-lister consumer appeal.
Williams’ television spots have been diverse: for JPMorgan Chase, she read the lyrics of an LL Cool J classic; for DirecTV, she battled monsters in Wonder Woman garb; and for Michelob, she starred in a pricey 2022 Super Bowl ad.
The 23-time Grand Slam champion earned $45 million in endorsements in 2022, about four times her level in 2014, when she was the world’s number one player, according to Forbes’ annual list of top-paid athletes.
Advocates for women in sports celebrate Williams for breaking through the glass ceiling in marketing as a woman of color, but note that only two of the top 50 Forbes athletes are female.
“Much like anything with women’s sports and marketing, we have a long way to go,” said Danette Leighton, chief executive officer of the Women’s Sports Foundation.
“We’re thankful Serena’s been able to do what she’s done and received the accolades and notoriety, but there’s still a lot of work to be done.”
Leighton cited one study that said women represent 40 percent of all athletes, but women’s sports receive only four percent of the media coverage.
– Hitting obstacles –
From the start, Williams and her elder sister Venus — a seven-time Grand Slam champion — commanded significant clothing endorsements even before they won major championships.
In Serena’s case, her first big apparel contract was with Puma, which outfitted her through her initial Grand Slam triumphs, including her first “Serena Slam,” a 12-month stretch over 2002 and 2003 in which she held all four major titles.
Williams then signed a major contract with Nike in 2003, when the Forbes list of the 50 best-paid athletes did not include any women at all.
She has often pushed the envelope in tennis fashion, donning edgy outfits such as a black Puma catsuit at the 2002 US Open, and a one-legged Nike version in Australia in 2021 to honor track legend Florence Griffith-Joyner.
But she also has suffered very public meltdowns that might have dampened marketing enthusiasm for her, the worst of which came at the 2009 US Open when she threatened a line judge in a semifinal defeat to Kim Clijsters.
By the second time she accomplished the “Serena Slam” over the 2014 and…
