Three New York Yankees made Nielsen’s “Most Marketable Players in Baseball” list, with captain Derek Jeter crushing everyone else. Nielsen measured player marketability using a proprietary statistic, the “N-Score,” which can be applied both nationally and in the player’s local market.
Jeter topped the list with an N-Score of 165, with his teammate Mariano Rivera a distant second at 56. The other Yankee to make the cut was Alex Rodriguez, who placed eighth with an N-Score of 35.
“Derek Jeter is on a tremendous run, with each new endorsement raising his profile with consumers. With a score more than three times his nearest competitor, it’s no wonder he’s been the face for Nike, Gatorade, Fleet Bank, Ford, VISA and more,” said Stephen Master, VP, Nielsen Sports. “While many of the players may not have national visibility, locally their brands resonate at a very strong level, with some having local N-Scores almost 10 times that of their national one.”
Placing third was the troubled but talented Rangers star Josh Hamilton, followed by arguably baseball’s best hitter Albert Pujols, and Ichiro Suzuki.
While Jeter was tops nationally, the most marketable athlete in a local market was Joe Mauer of the Minnesota Twins, who had an eye-popping local N-Score of 620, to Jeter’s 407.
Check out the rest of the top 10 from Nielsen, here.