Genuine question. I have seen this said often and have thought of it myself but surely any impact Park would have had would be only/mainly in South Korea right? I mean what would a chinese or malaysian care for Park? If I may use an analogy for example just because the dallas mavericks/NBA have Dirk Nowitzki doesn't make them (Mavs/NBA) any more popular in Spain or England for example does it?
Surely signing Kagawa only increases their popularity/commercial benefits/actual money from Japan?
Any asian friends like to chime in? I am Indian myself and do feel good about a fellow asian making it good but I am not going to buy Honda's jersey if he came.
I can help answer that.
There are two tiers to this.
first, he (any asian player) has to become a starter.
second, if he becomes a star, there are indeed commercial benefits.
Linsanity created an unprecedented impact in Taiwan and China, even though he barely lived there in Taiwan. China is even less relevant a link if we are being honest, only that they insist Taiwan is part of China. But we have to understand that before he became a starter, there wasn't any slightest interest. Now, though, he has performed very well (tier two), and iirc Forbes have already valued him as much as Kobe Bryant in terms of brand value.
the same applies to a Korean representing a Premier League club. But the commercial part is not guaranteed. That has got to be with personal appeal as well. So basicallly, it isn't as straightforward.
We are also not privy to the contract terms, but i'd imagine the mancs would want a percentage of his endorsements.
