Tebow's marketability is off the charts - Ingles

According to an article in the St. Petersburg Times this weekend, the draw that fans have toward Tim Tebow can be measured in his marketability. He is the third-most influential athlete in America, behind Tiger Woods and LeBron James, according to E-Poll Market research. This article is written by Francine King and appeared in The Florida Times-Union.

The market experts called Tebow’s Q rating, which measures a celebrity’s overall popularity and appeal, “unprecedented.”

I see the evidence of this every time I check the page view numbers for a Tebow-related item on Jacksonville.com. They are consistently the most-read sports items on the website.

For every Tebow-weary reader who complains about why we’re covering an athlete who’s halfway across the country, there are a handful of Tebow addicts who want to soak up every bit of Tebow news they can.

The truth is, no matter how far away Tebow goes, he’ll always be a Jacksonville native and former Florida Gator, which would be grounds for following his professional career, even if he were just an athlete of average interest.

Tebow is anything but.

As popular as he is, though, even Tebow won’t stay marketable for long as a third-string quarterback. The market experts quoted in the St. Pete Times story give him one to two years to ensure his current level of influence continues long term.

Whatever Tebow-weary fans think of his chances to extend that period of influence as a starting quarterback, they better brace themselves. He’s not going anywhere anytime soon.

This article is written by Francine King and appeared in The Florida Times-Union.