Wildly Successful Athlete Brands (And Others That Have Failed Miserably)

Fail: Rice Pays The Ultimate Price

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Seemingly out of the blue in 2014, TMZ released a video of Ray Rice and his then-fiance in an elevator. Rice, just off a solid season with the Baltimore Ravens, wasn’t too far removed from his Super Bowl victory. The video showed him striking his fiance until she became unconscious.

The NFL scrambled as they prepared the right punishment for Rice. Nike ended their relationship with the running back including taking his jersey’s from stores. He ended up losing all his sponsors and an estimated $1.6 million per year.