Luis Suarez Loses Endorsement Deals

It must be a tough week for Uruguay and Liverpool star Luis Suarez, who has been dropped by one of his endorsers following his biting incident.

During the FIFA world cup match between Italy and Uruguay on Tuesday, Luis Suarez was seen biting down on Italian defender Giorgio Chiellini’s shoulder before both players fell to the ground, with Luis Suarez grabbing his teeth.

FIFA hit Luis Suarez with a four-month ban from all football activity on Thursday and Luis Suarez was also banned for nine international games with Uruguay.

The fallout of Luis Suarez’s altercation with the Italian player has cost him dearly with 888Poker, one of Luis Suarez’s main sponsors. The company ended their deal with Suarez, and there are talks his other sponsors are debating their relationship with the player.

888Poker stated, “Regrettably, following his actions during Uruguay’s World Cup match against Italy on Tuesday, 888poker has decided to terminate its relationship with Luis Suarez with immediate effect.”

Following Thursday’s announcement of his suspension, Adidas, Luis Suarez’s major sponsor, revealed they would be reviewing their partnership with him. Luis Suarez has been dropped from all Adidas’ commercial activities for the rest of the World Cup. The company is also planning a meeting with Suarez and his representatives at the end of the World Cup to discuss their future.

Adidas’ statement read:

“Adidas certainly does not condone Luis Suarez’s recent behaviour and we will again be reminding him of the high standards we expect from our players… We will discuss all aspects of our future partnership directly with Suarez and his team following the World Cup.”

Further sponsors, such as Standard Chartered, Liverpool’s major shirt sponsor, and Warrior Football, Liverpool’s kit manufacturer, are said to be internally reviewing their relationship with Luis Suarez.

Pro athlete and celebrity endorsement deals have huge financial benefits for stars. Companies gain from these endorsement deals too, with business’s seeing huge growth when a star is the face of their product. The typical endorsement deal use to be large front-end-loaded cash payouts, but nowadays some stars want ownership in and shares for business’ they endorse. This is beneficial to both parties, as companies want stars to incorporate their products into their social media accounts. This allows the public to see the endorsements and the star is more likely to promote the product if there is further financial gain for them.