Emma Raducanu heard a lot of criticism for her brand deals, but according to her agent, Max Eisenbud, she left millions on the table.
Emma Raducanu became a tennis superstar over a fortnight in New York two years ago. There is no better place to do something extraordinary than New York, as the lights are so bright. Raducanu won the US Open, becoming the first qualifier in history to win a Grand Slam event.
It was a glorious run, something that unleashed the floodgates when it comes to her career, and looking back, it was a very cataclysmic event for the Brit. In a candid interview recently, Raducanu admitted that she sometimes wishes she never won the event.
With the newfound stardom, Raducanu obviously struck a few brand deals. It was time to capitalize on her hard work though most of that received a lot of criticism. People quickly started to point toward that when it comes to her diminished play, but according to her agent, that's not the case. Apparently, the Brit left millions on the table.
We could have done a hundred deals. A hundred, okay? And she could be doing deals, and deals, and deals. They left millions and millions of dollars on the table. We don’t need that. We want to try to do the best thing for the client, and so, we have the client for a long time.
Max Eisenbud is a pretty well-known name in the industry. He's worked with big tennis players before, such as Maria Sharapova, so he knows exactly what happens when a player becomes super popular quickly. He pushed back on the narrative that IMG pushed Raducanu to do more brand deals laughing off the idea that the company needs commission from her to survive.
Our job is to educate them on what’s available for them. I know, people want to say that the narrative – that IMG is bringing in all this money and making them take deals. Like, we are a pretty well-established company. We are not living and dying on a commission for Emma Raducanu. Our lights are going to stay on in the office.
The Brit herself is back to training though she won't play the US Open.