Ainsley Walters, Freelance Reporter

'BRAND Jamaica' got another major boost last Saturday night when Usain Bolt became the fastest man in the world, clocking 9.72 seconds in New York, erasing fellow countryman Asafa Powell's 100-metre mark of 9.74.

Bolt's feat, recorded on a wet night at the fourth annual Reebok Grand Prix at Icahn Stadium on Randall's Island in New York, opened the possibilities of a financial windfall in the business of sports for the 21-year-old Trelawny native.

Sports have long evolved from a pastime to big business and any keen observer would take note of the baseball cap emblazoned 'Digicel', which Bolt wore for his first interview on Jamaican soil, conducted at the airport, after his historic run.

Endorsement sponsorship, a mainstay of international sports, has made athletes overnight millionaires, the most renowned being basketball great Michael Jordan, who was estimated by Fortune magazine to have earned US$100m in 1997 alone.

They all benefit

Locally, track athletes such as Bolt, Powell, Brigitte Foster-Hylton, Sherone Simpson, the Reggae Boyz and Premier League football teams all benefit from sponsorship endorsements.

Sponsors tend to latch on to potential stars, rising stars or 'ready-made material' such as Powell, after the athletes establish themselves as the best in their respective disciplines.

However, some sponsors, such as Jamaica Beverages, enter modest endorsement deals, which later explode in a big way.

Approached by businessman Jason McKay to sponsor a team of martial artists in 2004, Jamaica Beverages' managing director, Paul Shoucair said "what the heck?", giving his company's blessings and cash to the team, which would later be dubbed the Busta Fighters after the company's flagship soft drink product.

Four years and one Inter-Continental Championship later, the unbeaten Busta Fighters, are about to spearhead Jamaica Beverages' parent company S.M. Jalheel's push to enter the North American market, due to their international success as a sporting team.

Busta's Caribbean brand manager, Lyndon Mohammed, on Monday said the success of the Busta Fighters has prompted Trinidad and Tobago's SM Jalheel to launch a new regional advertising campaign dubbed, Sports ... a Busta Lifestyle.

Supporting ja

"When we first went along with the project in Jamaica, it started primarily as support for Jamaican sports people and martial arts," Mohammed said in a telephone interview from Trinidad and Tobago.

"Back then, no one thought we would be using the words we are using today about the Busta Fighters. On the heels of their title win in Orlando last year, the whole awareness of Busta and martial arts took off in Jamaica and we were very happy with that activity.

"Surprisingly, we got contacted in Trinidad and Tobago by martial artists here, who knew of Jamaica's success and we applied the same Busta Fighters model in Trinidad and Tobago.

"We actually started buying spots in a local sports magazine, Adrenalin, and martial arts never got that kind of exposure for many years. People from all different styles of martial arts are happy.

"It has catapulted the sport in Trinidad and Tobago. What we're getting is awareness from a whole different market," Mohammed explained.

Jamaica, where it all began, will be at the point of Busta's North American push.

New tag line

"We're launching a new tag line: Sports ... a Busta lifestyle, playing on the platform of sports and lifestyle," said Mohammed.

"We're very happy with what started in Jamaica and has now manifested itself into an advertisement campaign to reposition Busta.

"We now have a leverage point of getting the brand into US market. Our vice president of The Americas is going to Jamaica next week to meet with Paul Shoucair.

"We want to table taking the brand into the US as a result of what Busta Fighters have been doing for us," said the Busta brand manager, revealing his company's plans to gain all the push they can from the unexpected promotional push.

Meanwhile, Shoucair is already eyeing another project.

"The Busta Fighters are known throughout the Caribbean and worldwide but this Jamaican skier, Errol Kerr, I am trying to run him down.

"For a country renowned for its sunshine all year round, we have a bobsled and a tae kwon do team and now a skier. We want to be involved with that too," he said.