FWB Friends With Baseball

Not Even In The Ballpark.

Jailyn~

Christian, Dallas, and Jared are all chatting as they get everything set up for the podcast. Starting Nine more or less gets the only exclusive on Christian and me seeing as Christian's been buds with them for years now. The commotion in our living room is less than ideal, but hey, it's a small price to pay when you're the biggest name to come out of your sport now engaged to one of the biggest names in his; especially now that my season starts up in about two weeks. 

I've been pretty much zoned out, thinking of everything I need to do still before heading to Oklahoma for what's more or less my spring training. When my phone buzzes in my pocket, I'm pulled from my thoughts as I read through the text. "Jenn: Call me ASAP. Adidas deal is going through." 

"Hey," I comment to Christian more than anything, "I'll be right back." Christian nods, and I have a few sets of eyes watching me as I look at my phone, heading upstairs as I hit Jenn's contact. Holding my phone to my ear, I listen to it ring as I get to Christian and my bedroom.

"Hey, Jailyn," Jenn answers, "Sorry for the urgency, but I've got some exciting news." 

"Alright," I reply, shutting the door behind me, "What's up? I can't take too long. I don't want to be rude to Jared, Dallas, and their guys." How urgent can this really be? We'd already had a deal for the past year and a half; I can't imagine too much has changed. 

"Right, and I'm sorry to interrupt, but this is a big deal for you," Jenn explains. "Are you ready to hear what we've worked out?" 

"Yeah, what's the big deal, though?"

Jenn laughs, "You, you're the big deal. When I put some additional feelers out for some leverage for you, DeMarini, Under Armour, and Nike all jumped in." 

Furrowing my eyebrows, I shake my head, "Jenn, I didn't think we were interested in working with anyone else?" 

"We weren't," Jenn replies, "However, short of DeMarini, they didn't know that. They all see what a cash cow you've been for DeMarini and wanted to try and jump in. This boosted your value for Adidas more than we'd have gotten without fielding their offers, and there was pretty much a bidding war over you." 

"Okay," I nod, "Adidas got me, right? Personally, they're my favorite. So if I'm endorsing anyone, I'd like that it be the brand I'm actually a fan of." 

"Adidas got you," Jenn confirms, "Are you ready to know for how much?" 

Chuckling, I nod, "I mean, you're hyping it up an awful lot. I've still only got two seasons under my belt; I can't imagine it's that crazy." 

"Only you would put up the numbers you do and still continue to severely devalue yourself," Jenn laughs. "Adidas is valuing your deal at about twenty-three million."

"For what, five years?" I ask. I mean, it's not bad for that term.

Jenn laughs a little, "Annually. Jailyn, you're a marketing goldmine, and with your bat deal, everyone saw just how much money your name can make." 

"Wow," I reply, unsure of how to even process this as I sit on Christian and my bed. 

"Jai, this deal is the third biggest deal that any athlete has ever seen. The twenty-three is their estimation based on the numbers your bat deal saw. Adidas is looking to have exclusivity in terms of apparel and is more than interested in having you create an entire line for them, just like you'd suggested. This is huge for you, Jailyn." 

"Wow," I repeat. This is huge and more than I could've ever imagined. "I'm," I stop, scoffing as I lay back and stare at the ceiling, "I'm, I guess, speechless. What," I pause again, trying to think of what's next. "What do I have to do next?"