Injury won't hurt Lindsey Vonn's marketability

                                Kelly Whiteside, USA TODAY Sports

http://www.usatoday.com

When NBC rolled out its Olympic blitz last month, the first promotional spots featured skier Lindsey Vonn. Prominently featured in Procter & Gamble's Thank You, Mom campaign and sponsored by Under Armour, Head, Red Bull, Oakley and Rolex among others, Vonn has been cast as the American face of these Games.

With 77 days until the start of the Sochi Olympics, the marketing of Lindsey Vonn took another course. After Vonn suffered a partial tear to the anterior cruciate ligament in her right knee on Tuesday, the question now looms: Will she be healthy enough to compete in her fourth Olympics? For NBC and Vonn's sponsors, what does such uncertainty mean?

INJURED: Vonn partially tears ACL

"I think the fact that no one knows yet whether she'll be back will keep her front and center in the news media," said Olympic marketing expert Rob Prazmark, the CEO of 21 Marketing. "That's good for sponsors and for NBC. Everybody loves a comeback story and if Lindsey Vonn can compete it will be one of the all-time greatest."

If she does, it will be a double comeback story of sorts. Before Tuesday's fall during training, her comeback story was already remarkable. Nine months ago, Vonn tore the two major ligaments in her right knee in a brutal crash in Austria.

David Carter, the executive director of the USC Marshall Sports Business Institute, said NBC and her sponsors are prepared to market Vonn in other ways if she's unable to compete – as a mentor to other Olympic athletes and as a possible television commentator.

There is little financial risk at stake, other than to Vonn, of course. Typically, the major sponsors of high-profile Olympians offer performance bonuses that can range in the six figures, Carter said.

Vonn's tricky marketing situation isn't unique. At the 2006 Winter Olympics in Torino, injured figure skater Michelle Kwan withdrew from the Games just before competition.

Prazmark said that her 11^th-hour decision didn't affect her brand. "Michelle Kwan is still Michelle Kwan. She is still one of the most respected Olympians," Prazmark said. "Whether Lindsey Vonn competes or not, she'll be remembered the same way."