Missy Franklin ranked as #4 Most Marketable Athlete over the next three years

Just a few months into her professional career, Missy Franklin has earned distinction as the world’s 4th-most-marketable athlete in SportsPro’s annual rankings.

Though the top 10 haven’t gone up yet on the official SportsPro website, NBC Sports reported earlier today that Franklin will check in at #4 on this list.

Franklin, of course, starred at the 2012 Olympic Games for the United States before making a college commitment to the University of California. Franklin swam two seasons in Berkeley and led the Golden Bears to a national title earlier this year.

The plan had long been for Franklin to turn pro after just two collegiate seasons, and this lofty ranking is a pretty good explanation on why that seemed like the logical move for Franklin. Just 20 years old, Franklin is already a world record-holder and the owner of four Olympic gold medals. On top of her extensive in-the-pool accolades, Franklin is a confident public speaker with an outgoing, bubbly personality that makes her a marketing dream.

This is Franklin’s third season on the list. She started at #20 in 2013, after her breakout performances in London, and moved up to #8 last year. She is the only swimmer on this year’s list.

According to NBC Sports, the SportsPro rankings take into account a whole host of factors for each athlete, including “value for money, age, home market, charisma, willingness to be marketed and crossover appeal.” The rankings predict which athletes will be most marketable over the next three years.

NBC reports that Franklin trails only Canadian tennis player Eugenie Bouchard, Brazilian soccer player Neymar and American golfer Jordan Spieth.

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hschler
9 years ago

Pretty awesome for TN Swim Camp to grab Missy for her first big public appearance. Last year Lochte, this year Franklin. Wonder how they will top that!? Guess we will see who the rising start is in 2016….

bobo gigi
9 years ago

And go Missy!
You can accomplish so many things in the next decade!
LCM world records!
SCM world records!
A lot of world cup wins.
A lot of Grand Prix wins.
A lot of world and olympic gold medals.
😎 😎 😎 😎

bobo gigi
9 years ago

I don’t know if it will happen in the next 3 years or 5 or 10 years but here are 3 names of US athletes who have much talent and much marketability in the future.
About tennis I would say that Madison Keys is much marketable in the future. Pretty, humoristic and a huge easy power in her groundstrokes If she can buy a brain on the court, then she will be very tough to beat.
Other American female tennis player with huge potential in and out of the court is Taylor Townsend. She’s pretty, funny and has a so refreshing game with a lot of variety and a big talent at the net. Has all the technical… Read more »

bobo gigi
Reply to  bobo gigi
9 years ago

It looks like humoristic is not a right English word. So I’m gonna use sarcastic about Madison Keys. I think that’s the right word about her. 🙂

Lane Four
Reply to  bobo gigi
9 years ago

Bobo, I LOVE T&F nearly as much as swimming. I think that there are more people than you realize who are fans of the sport.

bobo gigi
9 years ago

Bouchard! 😆 😆 😆 😆
So overrated!
The Bieber of women’s tennis.
And with in addition a very very very bad attitude….
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I19oizohh_0

bobo gigi
Reply to  bobo gigi
9 years ago

Fortunately. There’s a justice. She lost her match. 🙂

Hank
9 years ago

ZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Markster
9 years ago

In regards to the whole subject of Missy Franklin vs Katie Ledecky and how they compare in terms of “marketability” going into Rio, I think it’s obvious why Franklin gets much more attention. For one, she obviously had a much more memorable showing at London 2012. I also think that the media prefers her bubbly and flattering style of interviews. Not the mention the fact that its much easier for non-swim fans to watch and appreciate Franklins events in comparison to Ledecky where her most dominant performance will be in a race that takes over 8 minutes. It’s like comparing the Mo Farah to Usain Bolt. Everyone knows Bolt simply because he dominates the more popular events.

James
Reply to  Markster
9 years ago

I don’t think personality outside the pool is the biggest deal. At the end of the day impressive swims and medals win fans. That’s why Phelps leaves everyone else in the dust when is comes to endorsements – I don’t think he has a top notch personality that would work outside of the pool to win fans.

floppy
Reply to  Markster
9 years ago

I would put things on a scale:
ACCOMPLISHMENTS PERSONALITY

On that continuum:
Phelps’ achievements in the pool were so superlative that they made up for his lack of public personality. He may be quite charming in real life, but even after a LOT of interviews, he still comes across stiff as a board.

Ledecky – not going to win 8 golds, but her achievements are still more understandable to non-swimmers than Missy’s. See the Grantland article about “Katie F—— Ledecky”. When you’re half a lap ahead of the next fastest swimmer, people can appreciate that. She seems very nice, but not extroverted enough to be a natural spokesperson.

Lochte – Doesn’t have to accomplish anything else in the… Read more »

Gina Rhinestone
9 years ago

Obama will be number one sports star on the circuit in Jan 2017 .

Lane Four
Reply to  Gina Rhinestone
9 years ago

What event will he swim? Once he leaves office he will have all the time he needs for training. Maybe 2018 since 2017 is a little too soon. 😉

GinaRhinestone
Reply to  Lane Four
9 years ago

I was thinking more of the speaking circuit . I doubt he will do swimming because Vlad is already up there as a FINA medallist.

Justin Thompson
Reply to  Gina Rhinestone
9 years ago

He plays a lot of golf so maybe he can parlay that into some endorsements.

James
9 years ago

It will be interesting to see how Missy handles the pressure of performing up to her “marketability”. Obviously she will be the headline swimmer at the Rio games for the public, especially if Phelps isn’t in the equation. And despite Katie Ledecky coming on incredibly strong, Missy probably still has the edge in total medal count possible (assuming the 100 back, 200 back, 200 free, plus 3 relays).

Dan
Reply to  James
9 years ago

Missy got a lot of attention at the 2012 Olympics, which probably helps her on this list. I wouldn’t be surprised if Katie Ledecky passes her after 2016.

About Jared Anderson

Jared Anderson

Jared Anderson swam for nearly twenty years. Then, Jared Anderson stopped swimming and started writing about swimming. He's not sick of swimming yet. Swimming might be sick of him, though. Jared was a YMCA and high school swimmer in northern Minnesota, and spent his college years swimming breaststroke and occasionally pretending …

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