Jeremy Lin has taken over the basketball world by coming out of nowhere to put up eye-popping numbers and ignite a string of Knicks wins. It was only a matter of time before conversations began about how profitable the guard can be.
As a Chinese-American, Lin's success obviously opens up an entirely new landscape for marketing opportunities — on top of an already robust New York market.
Reuters points out that there are marketers who believe that there could be big things in the way of marketing and endorsing Lin, even drawing comparisons to former NBA All-Star and China native Yao Ming.
"You only have to look at what Yao Ming has done not just for the NBA but for brands that he represents both in the States and China," Jeremy Walker, head of sports marketing for GolinHarris told Reuters. "Every top Chinese star comes out from the Olympic Games or wherever it might be, there's always going to be an awful lot of interest for brands because all major brands in the world are still looking to China for growth.
"A lot of brands want that positive 'halo effect' association they are going to get from being involved with a superstar."
It should come as no surprise that Chinese fans of basketball — one of the country's most popular sports — have taken notice when it comes to Lin's successes.
It's still way too early to say whether or not Lin can at some point reach the same sort of social and economic status Yao did (Lin's run has only been five games after all), but it's obvious that the Harvard alum has plenty to gain if he can prove that Linsanity is here to stay.
