Agent to the stars Max Markson says West Coast Eagles’ number one pick Harley Reid is worth $10m off the field

Publicist to the stars Max Markson has declared Waalitj Marawar (West Coast) excitement machine Harley Reid’s off-field brand is already worth $10 million and his extraordinary skill and popularity will set him up for life.

Reid had Eagles fans losing their minds at Optus Stadium on Sunday with a scintillating 21 disposals and two goals during the win over Narrm (Melbourne). He electrified the crowd by winning a centre clearance, taking three bounces and then kicking a goal before later producing fend-offs on both Christian Petracca and Clayton Oliver.

By the time he kicked another goal from a fend-off late in the match, it was clear that he was the best player on the ground. Eagles coach Adam Simpson and Demons coach Simon Goodwin recognised him as the unanimous best player by giving him 10 votes in the AFL Coaches Association award.

But Markson — who has worked with celebrities around the world including actors, singers, politicians and royalty, said the 10 votes were nothing compared to his financial value.

“At the age of 19 he’s worth bloody $10 million, easily,” Markson told the Nightly Five podcast.

“As the years go past, he’ll just keep on earning money. It’s not just on the field.

“He’ll have so much commercial spread. There are TV commercials. There’s a list of things that he could do. There will be a car company that will want to use him. Maybe it’ll be a dealership that he’ll be able to get and start his career off with that.

“There will be food companies — Woolworths or Coles or something like that — who have multi-year deals on these sorts of things. There’s exercise clothing and boots. It goes on and on. I can even see Channel 7 signing him up and doing columns and things like that. It’s worth so much money to him.”

Reid is currently earning the standard draftee wage for a top-10 draft pick of $130,000 per season and $4000 per game. His on-field value will soar when he is able to negotiate a deal and it has already been tipped that he could command up to $2 million per year.

Veteran commentator Gerard Whateley has described the Eagles’ resurgence as the “Harley Reid effect” while respected expert David King believes stars will want to join the club to play alongside him.

Markson said Reid’s sensational start would allow him to lock away long-term agreements.

“It’s five-year deals. It’s long-term relationships with major companies,” he said.

“It used to be deal by deal but nowadays it is long-term products and it’s long-term relationships with five or six companies. That’s the way it goes. That’s the way of the future.”