Despite the scarcity of Asian faces on the international sports field, Western companies have raced ahead of their regional challengers in signing on Asia's emerging sports superstars.
Thai tennis ace Paradorn Srichaphan is proving a hit with sponsors since his dramatic rise up the rankings - from 112th to 16th place - in a single season. Rolex, Coca-Cola and adidas have linked up with the new face of Asian tennis in the wake of Michael Chang's disappearance from the game.
Domestically, Paradorn has struck deals with TA Orange and the Bank of Ayudhya.
China's lanky basketball star Yao Ming, the NBA's number one pick in the June 2002 draft, is another hot endorsement property. Within three months of his debut for the Houston Rockets', the seven-foot, six-inch centre has international deals with Apple, video game company Sorrent and is in the final year of a Nike pact that he signed when he was still playing at home.
Although the 35-person plus marketing team - known as Team Yao - believes his biggest market will be the 460 million kids in China and reports indicate that Yao will do more endorsements in his homeland than the US - no mainland brand has yet hitched its wagon on the country's best-known son.
"The Chinese don't think that using a sports celebrity is a good thing," notes Terry Rhoads, co-founder of ZOU Marketing, a brand/sports marketing firm based in Shanghai and Hong Kong. "Right now, China companies employ young brand managers who don't have any experience in using sports marketing and believe that it's a risky investment."
Mark Fischer, managing director - China, NBA Asia, agrees. "With Yao Ming, China brands will only want to jump on it after the fact."
Their absence has left the way open for US companies. Apart from the novelty of having an Asian sporting star on its books, US brands see Yao, Paradorn and other emerging household names as tools to break into new markets.
Rhoads says that Asian athletes appeal to American brands because they possess Asian cultural values.
"Their brand attributes are very good - humble, good families, patriotic, loyal and hardworking. Unlike many American athletes, Asian sports stars are never in trouble with the law. A lot of brands would like to be associated with someone like that."
Fischer believes that Yao Ming's appeal in the US may have started off as an Asian novelty, but three months in the league and Americans now see him as the "real deal".
He adds: "He's got a good sense of humour, charisma and is good-looking, but more importantly, is playing better than expected. He's been instrumental in helping the Houston Rockets become a winning team. He's not just an Asian star. He's a star, period."
Though it's still early days, Rhoads believes the interest shown by American companies will fire up the enthusiam of Chinese brands in sports marketing.
"The level of the advertising produced by brands like Apple is on such a different level to what is now available in China that it will challenge Chinese marketers to take their products a step further and force agencies to improve their skills," he says. "The Chinese are great at copying, but more importantly they quickly learn how to add something extra. They will look at how Yao Ming is being utilised, copy it and innovate on it."
Rhoads believes Yao Ming could become the most popular sportsman endorser in the next 10 years, provided he isn't sidelined by any injuries. He estimates the star will easily earn over US$10 million a year in endorsements alone - still a fraction of the $62 million Tiger Woods is estimated to have earned from endorsements in the past year.
Crucially, Yao's trailblazing on the NBA courts and the emergence of other Asian sports stars will have an immense impact on the development of Asia's nascent interest in sports.
"If a country has an athlete that is successful on the world stage, then that sport will experience an enormous surge in popularity, like tennis' new popularity in Thailand," says Julian Jackson, head of TV sales and marketing at sports marketing company Total Sport Asia.
Yao's popularity is already filtering through for the NBA brand in China.
Indeed, Yao's entry into the league could not have come at a better time.
Michael Jordan's unimpressive form and the retirement of other big names are believed to have dented the NBA's appeal in markets such as the Philippines.
With Yao leading the charge, the NBA recently opened an office in Beijing and has new agreements with 14 regional and national television stations in the country. Yao's debut game back in September was available in 287 million Chinese TV households. By comparison, there are only 106.6 million TV households in the US.
The danger is that Yao's popularity may draw sponsorship dollars away from local athletes and events. But Jackson believes longer term benefits will outweigh such dangers. He says athletes such as Yao will create opportunities for local firms to break into Western markets.
A good example is Kejian, a Chinese mobile telephone manufacturer which now sponsors the English Premier League (EPL) team Everton and its two Chinese players, Li Tie and Li Weifung. As a result of having its name on Everton shirts and riding on Li Tie's success, the sponsorship has taken the brand into a number of new markets since EPL broadcasts continue to attract an increasing number of viewers around the world.
However, Jackson notes that in the past two years, the Asian sponsorship market has consolidated dramatically due to the global downturn. "Only the premium events and most successful athletes still attract the big bucks. Companies are also much more parsimonious with their budgets," he says.
Both Jackson and Rhoads agree that local companies using sports marketing must improve their act. "Marketers will need to be much more sophisticated or be embarrassed if they are not hitting the right levels," says Rhoads.
Adds Jackson: "Sports itself will have to innovate or die. They must compete for the entertainment dollar. Unprofitable niche events will have trouble surviving. The Asian sports marketing industry is becoming more like the American and European models, where only the well-managed and professionally-run companies will survive."
However, the recent success of China, Korea and Japan in the 'big balls sports' (football and basketball), is really capturing the imagination of young consumers.
"Traditionally, these countries have not had much success on the world stage in basketball or football, but the recent World Cup success, mixed with Yao Ming's dynamic success in the NBA is changing the game," says Rhoads. "Asian fans are feeling very proud and excited by this success and it is attracting more consumers to the sport. It's a very positive development for Asian sports and marketers."
Adds Fischer: "I believe that now is the turning point for sports marketing in Asia. It will be exciting to see what happens in the next 12 months."
TOP 10 MOST APPEALING PRODUCT ENDORSERS, SPORTS
RANK ATHLETE SPORT
1 Tiger Woods Golf
2 Michael Jordan Basketball
3 Lance Armstrong Cycling
4 Anna Kournikova Tennis
5 Mia Hamm Football
6 Marion Jones Track & Field
7 Andre Agassi Tennis
8 Muhammad Ali Boxing
9 Kobe Bryant Basketball
10 Wayne Gretzky Hockey