The first gay athlete to come out in a major American team sport is going to be put on a pedestal and catapulted with cash. According to Rick Welts, openly gay former Phoenix Suns executive and current president of the Golden State Warriors, major endorsers like Nike are eager to support an out athlete.
“They made it clear to me Nike would embrace it,” Welts told Bloomberg. “The player who does it, they’re going to be amazed at the additional opportunities that are put on the table, not the ones that are taken off.”
Nike is just the start. According to Bob Witeck, a gay-marketing strategist and corporate consultant, if the out athlete is a big name, he will make millions from companies wanting to capitalize on American gay, bi and transgender consumers who have a “spending power” of an estimated $800 billion annually.
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