It may have been 30 years ago, but Equibrand CMO Billie Bray remembers that May morning when she drove the industry’s first shirt with a patch to the Windy Ryon Memorial—revolutionizing endorsements forever. Hall-of-Famers like Mike Beers and Jake Barnes sporting the logo of Classic Ropes meant the industry exploded with rumors about who was paying who, she recalls.
Today, navigating those relationships is as tricky as ever for companies shelling out big dollars to align themselves with—and trust—certain headers and heelers with their reputations.
There have always been two kinds of endorsements: friendship (someone wants to help a roper get down the road) and business (a rope company wants to profit from a roper’s visibility). Complicating that are the wildly varying budgets of today's handful of rope companies. Deals vary just as much, accordingly. Signees are bound to get free ropes, but “TV ropers” tend to get paid, too. Some companies offer stipends throughout the year while others only offer bonuses if you make the NFR. Patches of certain logos are given out like candy, and others can be nearly impossible to get.
