By Eric Jackson, Sportico
Some elite athletes transcend their market with star power so bright that the jurisdiction has little bearing. Saquon Barkley is looking to be just that as he navigates the change of scenery from New York to Philly.
A leading candidate in the NFL MVP race this season, the Philadelphia Eagles running back has looked beyond comfortable in midnight green after six seasons with the Giants. Barkley, who broke the franchise’s single-season rushing record last week to lift the Eagles to their ninth straight win, has not only turned heads on the field but continues to be one of the league’s most marketable players.
“You can take someone like him and place him in Timbuktu, and he would still be marketable, and people would still want to work with him,” Barkley’s agent Ed Berry, who works for CAA, said in an interview. “He’s a unicorn.”
Barkley, a Nike athlete who recently appeared in national TV spots for Applebee’s and Uber Eats, left Roc Nation for CAA in marketing representation last year. Berry and his team have been charged with helping the two-time Pro Bowler transition from New York to Philadelphia, the nation’s fourth-largest media market. This includes swapping his former regional partnerships in New York with companies like Dunkin for new deals with Pennsylvania-based companies like Firstrust Bank and insurance marketplace Pennie. Barkley’s team is currently in negotiations with a few other local companies for campaigns during the upcoming offseason.
Barkey, an investor in energy drink company X2 Performance and blockchain developer Monad Labs, has amassed an endorsement portfolio of more than a dozen companies, including insurance company Nationwide and Bleacher Report. The former Penn State star’s Nike deal reportedly brought in the sportswear giant’s second-largest guarantee for a football player at the time, behind only Dolphins receiver Odell Beckham Jr. in 2019.
“The more he has matured, the more he’s grown into who he is,” Berry said. “He’s everything you want in a brand ambassador.”
Barkley joins Kansas City quarterback Patrick Mahomes and Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen as NFL stars to shine outside of major markets like New York City and Los Angeles. The change of scenery also comes at a time where the 27-year-old veteran has made the running back position relevant again, while punishing his former team for not re-signing him to his desired deal (he rushed for 176 yards and a touchdown in a 28-3 win over the Giants at MetLife Stadium in October). While Barkley isn’t in the Big Apple, he stands to benefit off the field by playing for a title contender for the first time in his career, which equals more national TV attention and playing in more meaningful games.
“New York is New York,” Berry added. “But guys like Barkley can transcend the market. It’s not like he’s in Jacksonville. Philadelphia is a big city with a huge fan base. New York is not overstated, but if you’re elite, you’re elite. And he’s a special, one-of-one guy.”