Games Mark McCormack plays

February 18: There was a time when sportsmen were just sportsmen. Until Mark McCormack, Zeus of Endorsements, came along and turned them ...

February 18: There was a time when sportsmen were just sportsmen. Until Mark McCormack, Zeus of Endorsements, came along and turned them into brands.

International Management Group (IMG), the company McCormack founded in 1960, counts among its clients Pete Sampras, Martina Hingis, Tiger Woods, and the Mecca of tennis, Wimbledon. McCormack has, more than any living person, been responsible for stitching brand names on T-shirts, racquets, shorts, wrist-bands and kitbags. Remember the Rolex logo on Wimbledon scoreboard? No prizes for guessing who put it there.

All this could soon be a thing of the past. Speaking at The Oberoi today, fittingly to endorse software giants Oracle, as first speaker of their Viewpoint series, McCormack said the world is readying to welcome the son of logos virtual advertising. “A player may wear no logo, but viewers will see an electronic logo on him, thanks to TV. The same player may be seen wearing a Coca Cola logo in India, while Russian viewers could see a Pepsi emblem.Researchers are experimenting with it,” the 68-year-old Midwestern said.

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Detractors in Europe find it easy to hate McCormack for being such an American. Only an American could have convinced the Pope that tours by His Highness should be marketed, down to patents on piety memorabilia (a British tabloid responded with a cartoon of the Pope saying, Give us this day our daily Wonderbread!). Only an American could have pitched corporate tents on the hallowed lawns of the All England Club, Wimbledon, a practice now adopted at all major sporting events. Only an American could have hired the grandest Tudor palace in England, invited’ 800 corporate guests, catered private banquets in rooms where Henry VIII courted Anne Boleyn, served cocktails, followed by an evening of classical music in the courtyard. All to make money.

The Americanisms have drawn barbs: Sports Illustrated once called IMG the company people love to hate, while the acronym has favoured expansions like International Money Grubbers and I’MGreedy. In defence, the man who has Tiger Woods and Michael Jordan for neighbours, prefers to put money where the mouth is.

“Money. The main contribution of IMG is we have brought more bucks into sports. Now, that can only develop the game.” For the same reason, McCormack feels cigarette and alcohol companies should be allowed to advertise. “If that money can go into making sports more professional, so be it.”

The best-selling author of What they don’t teach you at Harvard Business School, introduced as a man who has industrialised sport, didn’t need a crystal ball to predict sport is headed for globalisation. “It’ll be hard to globalise a complicated game like cricket, but it’ll happen. They could be playing cricket in Cleveland (his hometown) one day,” he said. Will disparities in quality not hamper globalisation? Imagine an Indian team in the NBA! Not preposterous, says McCormack. “India can franchise players from other teams.” He added while marketing cricket in India is easy, IMG was keen tomake forays in sports like hockey and football. Bhaichung Bhutia is already on IMG’s roster. Its brief of converting him into a brand, i.e., match his personality with products has begun bearing fruits. Could Dhanraj Pillay be next?