For decades, high-profile brands such as Nike and Adidas dominated the tennis market by sponsoring some of the biggest players on the ATP Tour. However, several other brands have emerged in the market. ‘On’ is one such sports apparel company. After already having some talented youngsters such as Ben Shelton and Joao Fonseca in their family, the Roger Federer-backed company has made it to the headlines by sponsoring Flavio Cobolli.
“The objective with our initial recruitment strategy last year was to make a major impact with our signings of Iga, Ben and João,” Feliciano Robayna, On’s head of athlete management for tennis said, per SWI swissinfo.
“The ambition moving forward is to continue with this strong momentum and establish sustainable, long-term success with fresh faces who will electrify tennis with their game and unwavering attitude,” he added.
Roger Federer’s ‘On’ signs Flavio Cobolli.
Interesting. pic.twitter.com/6WqTV0rh7t
— José Morgado (@josemorgado) May 15, 2024
The news of welcoming Flavio Cobolli to the ‘On’ family does come as a pleasant surprise. It seems rather peculiar that the management decided to get Cobolli as the ambassador. Perhaps, other Italian youngsters such as Luca Nardi or Lorenzo Musetti, who have defeated Novak Djokovic, could’ve been better options.
To his credit though, Flavio has been one of the most improved players on the ATP Tour. Apart from earning $397,036 in prize money this year, Cobolli recently jumped up 47 spots in the rankings to No.57. The former Lotto-sponsored athlete also has 42.3k followers on Instagram and gained a lot of popularity for being the first opponent that Rafael Nadal faced on his return to the clay courts earlier in the Barcelona Open 2024.
Hence, Flavio’s rise is perfectly aligned with On’s aim of adding young players to their roster. But there is one more plausible reason behind On signing up the Italian.
Why Does Flavio Cobolli’s Addition Make Sense for the Roger Federer-Backed ‘On’?
Unlike powerhouses such as Nike and Adidas, On has used a peculiar strategy when it comes to sponsoring players – getting more youngsters rather than big names, on board. By getting Iga Swiatek to the team in 2020 itself, On seemed to have gotten the best of both worlds.
On is already working around Ben Shelton and Joao Fonseca. After already signing a North American and South American on board respectively, it makes sense for On to sign a player from Europe and more so Italy, which has a tennis lineage. With Italian tennis seeing a renaissance of sorts, that market could be in On’s sights.
Judging by what their current strategy looks like, it won’t be surprising to see an Australian player receive a sponsorship from On. If not Alex de Minaur, adding Rinky Hijikata could help the brand enter the Australian market.
