Prithika Pavade signs long-term sponsorship deal with GEWO

[Tony's Table Tennis]

 

[tzifos]

Andro and Gewo are very active this period!

 

[Attitude]

Andro and Gewo are very active this period!

You might add tibhar to that statement

 

[andzejgolot]

Tibhar the worst brand

 

[ThePongCommenter]

Seems like European companies are signing people just to sign people, I see zero value in signing a player of this caliber unless they think its going to help with the French market...but don't think it would

 

[NextLevel]

Seems like European companies are signing people just to sign people, I see zero value in signing a player of this caliber unless they think its going to help with the French market...but don't think it would

She is probably the biggest female talent in France and one of the top talents in Europe and just turned 20 and has been ranked top 20 in the world. What caliber of talent do you want signed looking at the European women? A lot comes down to the deal but there are no female players that are better investments than this in Europe, she just needs to win the titles that were seen in her future.

 

[ThePongCommenter]

She is probably the biggest female talent in France and one of the top talents in Europe and just turned 20 and has been ranked top 20 in the world. What caliber of talent do you want signed looking at the European women? A lot comes down to the deal but there are no female players that are better investments than this in Europe, she just needs to win the titles that were seen in her future.

A lot comes down to the deal indeed but I'll leave it at that I find it hard to see how any European women or female French talent becomes a profitable investment, unless the goal is not profit but to steal away some market share in France from Tibhar which I also don't see this deal accomplishing.

 

[ThePongCommenter]

it's curious that most notable TT brands are German companies:

Donic
Joola
Andro
Tibhar
Gewo
Schildkot
DrNeubauer

Germany so strong in the market!

Most notable in what way?

 

[ThePongCommenter]

in that there are only few other really competing brands internationally. there are, but only few, and per country.

japan - butterfly , and victas (new player)
chinese - DHS, Yinhe .. have come to int. prominence only 'recently' (ask gpt). before (like decades ago), DoubleFish, Globe, Friendship were considered a budget joke in the EU.
Sweden - banda (disfunct), and Stiga
koreas - Champion (incl. axiom)

ah never mind

Victas is branded Japanese but made in Germany for the most part. Same for Stiga and Xiom as being branded Swedish and Korean.

So they really fall into the ESN bucket just as much as the other ESN companies you mentioned.

 

[NextLevel]

A lot comes down to the deal indeed but I'll leave it at that I find it hard to see how any European women or female French talent becomes a profitable investment, unless the goal is not profit but to steal away some market share in France from Tibhar which I also don't see this deal accomplishing.

TT profit is hard in general, but if you are taking a flier on any domestic talent, it is hard to do worse than Pavade. Her Indian heritage is mildly relevant here. And there will probably be caveats in the deal but the biggest thing is that she should be at least as valuable as Bernie and if she fulfils her promise, much bigger. That said, you are saying that the deal would not be profitable for any European female player which might very well be true, while I am saying if there is any female player worth taking a risk on, it is this one. Not really conflicting positions lol.

 

[ThePongCommenter]

TT profit is hard in general, but if you are taking a flier on any domestic talent, it is hard to do worse than Pavade. Her Indian heritage is mildly relevant here. And there will probably be caveats in the deal but the biggest thing is that she should be at least as valuable as Bernie and if she fulfils her promise, much bigger. That said, you are saying that the deal would not be profitable for any European female player which might very well be true, while I am saying if there is any female player worth taking a risk on, it is this one. Not really conflicting positions lol.

Agreed, more broadly it wasn't a dig at Pavade but that many sponsorship deals, men's deals included, are losing battles for the sponsors from a simple profit standpoint. ESN companies lately seem to clearly have a bigger pot of money to throw at players and are doing so accordingly, probably projecting continued massive growth, whether that turns out to be a wise decision long term remains to be seen but I have my prediction lol.

 

[Tyce]

Gewo is trying to expand their brands reach, if they can gain access to the Indian market while also increasing exposure in Europe, that's great.

 

[mamedium]

so… no more D09C and Ovt ALC?

 

[zeio]

Gewo had actually been struggling for several years and it seems they got new investment (a loan?) in 2022 to turn things around.

 

[BlopChock]

Tibhar the worst brand

Rubbers, blades, tables?
(Clothes, shoes?)

And what makes them so?

 

[Tony's Table Tennis]

A lot comes down to the deal indeed but I'll leave it at that I find it hard to see how any European women or female French talent becomes a profitable investment, unless the goal is not profit but to steal away some market share in France from Tibhar which I also don't see this deal accomplishing.

IMO, its a good move for Gewo.
they don't really have much all stars.

and with Aruna, I think they were really lucky with the move from Joola, as it was also during the ball change and Aruna just became more deadly and that green rubber became a flagship, like pink is Bernie's color.

Pavade is ranked 27th today with 17 Chinese or Japanese ahead of her.
there isn't really any one higher ranked, and that is younger to pursue.

if she was an open agent status, I would imagine bigger brands would have hunt her down.
so thumbs up to Gewo for getting her.

Some times the open agent status doesn't get out there, like when I asked my pals at Stiga, while they didn't go after Felix, as the "next image" of Cpen world champion. They just told me, they didn't know he was available.

France is a big market, and her Indian heritage might add some value.
never the less, her position in Europe and world ranking is excellent catch by Gewo
the rest is an gamble, maybe it works, maybe it doesn't (for both).

 

[zeio]

The Indian ethnicity thing is funny. If Gewo really wanted a piece of the Indian market, then there are quite a few INT players they could have signed, like Li Ning did for badminton by signing Sindhu and Kidambi in 2019, with both deals failing miserably in ROI. It's like saying Butterfly signed Kanak Jha (American curry) to cozy up to the Indians (Indian curry) as a bonus. The two don't mix.

Gewo is likely trying to hitch a ride on the "French New Wave" led by the Lebrun brothers and the XT and WD events for LA28. If it fails to convert, they are toast. Germany, France and Sweden (the last of which was displaced by Russia for several years) are ESN's biggest markets in Europe.

 

[NextLevel]

IMO, its a good move for Gewo.
they don't really have much all stars.

and with Aruna, I think they were really lucky with the move from Joola, as it was also during the ball change and Aruna just became more deadly and that green rubber became a flagship, like pink is Bernie's color.

Pavade is ranked 27th today with 17 Chinese or Japanese ahead of her.
there isn't really any one higher ranked, and that is younger to pursue.

if she was an open agent status, I would imagine bigger brands would have hunt her down.
so thumbs up to Gewo for getting her.

Some times the open agent status doesn't get out there, like when I asked my pals at Stiga, while they didn't go after Felix, as the "next image" of Cpen world champion. They just told me, they didn't know he was available.

France is a big market, and her Indian heritage might add some value.
never the less, her position in Europe and world ranking is excellent catch by Gewo
the rest is an gamble, maybe it works, maybe it doesn't (for both).

With Aruna, it also came down to what his lawyer/agent was negotiating at that time for Nigeria. Quadri had already become a big brand regardless of ball, but Gewo needed him more and were willing to do more things for more people. I think the deal worked out for everyone.

IMHO, the argument really comes down to whether European women sell table tennis. I have a Bernadette Szocs signature 1 blade so it really comes down to Pavade. She was so far ahead of her peers as a junior that her senior career so far has been a bit of a disappointment. Regardless though, other than Kaufmann, where would you put such money really? A lot of it is really a bet on whether Pavade can fulfill her junior promise. That she doesn't have a French singles title yet is puzzling. But such things do happen to the best, even if not as extremely in all cases.

 

[NextLevel]

The Indian ethnicity thing is funny. If Gewo really wanted a piece of the Indian market, then there are quite a few INT players they could have signed, like Li Ning did for badminton by signing Sindhu and Kidambi in 2019, with both deals failing miserably in ROI. It's like saying Butterfly signed Kanak Jha (American curry) to cozy up to the Indians (Indian curry) as a bonus. The two don't mix.

Gewo is likely trying to hitch a ride on the "French New Wave" led by the Lebrun brothers and the XT and WD events for LA28. If it fails to convert, they are toast. Germany, France and Sweden (the last of which was displaced by Russia for several years) are ESN's biggest markets in Europe.

I can tell you that Kanak has an influence on the Indian market simply because a lot of Indians are also Americans and vice versa. The ICC(guess what the I stands for) was/is one of the biggest training centers in the USA and while Kanak didn't train there, it was how Massimo got into the US scene as a coach after being India's coach for a while and went back. I don't know about France from an immigration perspective but I would be surprised if Indians dont identify with Pavade. Tony can provide his opinion since he was in the Indian league on wherher Kanak was treated purely as an American while he was there. Ethnicity still does something beyond the first generation. There is a reason why Italians like John Oyebode or Tiago Abiodun are followed by Nigerians despite never playing for Nigeria.

 

[andzejgolot]

Rubbers, blades, tables?
(Clothes, shoes?)

And what makes them so?

Office.