Bravery of gay athletes is sponsors' dream

If the shades of human sexuality can ever be distilled to cold fractions, then at least 50 Premier League players must be gay.

Received wisdom dictates that none have yet come out not simply because of a fear of persecution but a mortal dread that jittery sponsors will desert them.

John Amaechi, de facto ambassador for Britain's exclusive fraternity of avowedly gay sportsmen, quipped recently that had he dared declare himself homosexual while still an athlete, he would have made his living not in American basketball but as an unknown, overweight sports psychologist in Manchester.

The case of Jason Collins proves such anxieties are misplaced. Almost overnight, an announcement by the Washington Wizards centre that he was gay rendered him not merely the toast of morning talk shows but the darling of Madison Avenue.

Nike, the 34-year-old's primary backers, initially conveyed a rather bloodless platitude about "diversity and inclusion", before adding: "We admire Jason's courage."

Even the White House felt compelled to take a stance, President Obama declaring he "could not be prouder" of Collins, as if describing a beloved nephew.

Then Bill Clinton invoked a most tangential connection to the man of the hour, basing an extended eulogy on daughter Chelsea.

America being America, it was seismic news. No matter that Britain had already embraced a gay cricketer in Steven Davies, or that Puerto Rico could claim a gay boxer in Orlando Cruz, Collins still enjoyed a sui generis billing on the cover of Sports Illustrated as "The Gay Athlete".

This is not to suggest he acted to enrich his marketability, rather than out of an urge to do what he believed was right. But the sloganisers' appetite for parading his story to the world verges on slavish. In their eyes, Collins stands apart from the culture of the jock, from the crass chauvinism of the average locker room, by his articulacy and candour, and already there is talk of Hollywood scripts being prepared.

In barely two years, the landscape awaiting gay athletes fighting to suppress their secret has been transformed. In the winter of 2011, I spent a couple of hours talking to Alan Hansford, the former Sussex fast bowler and first openly gay man in all professional cricket.

He stated that the barrier to top-flight footballers following his lead was the perceived effect on their earning potential. "Even the fans are not as much of a problem as your income," he argued.

The prevailing reality is now quite the contrary. If Collins' revelation signifies anything, it is that corporate sponsors regard homosexuality not so much a red light as a veritable gold mine.

Even amid the notorious cult of machismo that holds sway in basketball, Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban claims: "From a marketing perspective, if you are a player who happens to be gay and you want to be incredibly rich, you should come out. It would be the best thing that ever happened to you."

As a relatively obscure free agent entering the autumn of his career, Collins is perhaps not ideally placed to reap the full windfall. But the co-opting of his tale from all quarters indicates that the sports world has advanced in mighty bounds from the struggles of Matthew Mitcham, the Australian Olympic diver who disclosed in the aftermath of his gold medal in Beijing that he felt shunned by sponsors.

- © The Daily Telegraph, London