With their teams facing off in the Super Bowl, the Giants’ Eli Manning and the Patriots’ Tom Brady are being sized up on Madison Avenue.
While Brady is ahead in the endorsement game and already has three Super Bowl victories under his belt, Manning is on the rise after leading his team to the big game this year.
Brady rakes in an estimated $9 million in endorsements, according to Sports Illustrated, and is a spokesman for Nike, Movado, Stetson cologne and Smartwater. Sports marketers say he could be in more ads, but he has a reputation for turning down endorsements.
Even so, Manning – despite his career ups and downs – already pulls in a hefty $5 million in endorsements from Reebok, Citizen Watch, Oreo, Toyota of New Jersey and ESPN Radio, among others.
Even better for his future advertising outlook, the Manning name is considered marketing gold – especially since older brother Peyton, the star QB for the Indianapolis Colts, is the top NFL endorser with an estimated $13 million in deals.
What Eli must do to seize even more endorsement bucks is work on his star appeal.
“Tom Brady is the matinee idol,” said Jim Andrews, senior vice president at the IEG Sponsorship Report.
As a result, Brady ranks higher than Eli on the Davie Brown Index, which rates celebrities based on factors such as appeal, awareness and influence.
“Eli always has this deer-in-the-headlights look,” said Jonah Freedman, who compiles Sports Illustrated’s list of the top 50 sports endorsers. “Even when he’s playing well he looks confused.”
Image experts say Eli could change that perception, even without a win in the Super Bowl, if he just plays really well.
“[Eli] is on a different stage than he’s ever been before,” said Scott Sanford, a senior client director for Davie Brown Talent, which pairs celebrities and sports stars with marketers. “He’s gotten there without too many people believing he would.” holly.sanders@nypost.com