I don't know about commercial brands but some gladiators were paid quite handsomely by sponsors[1], not unlike top-tier athletes today (actually, some arguably

I don't know about commercial brands but some gladiators were paid quite handsomely by sponsors[1], not unlike top-tier athletes today (actually, some arguably earned more than modern athletes[2]) [1] https://www.forbes.com/sites/drsarahbond/2016/08/10/how-athletes-have-made-money-off-the-olympics-from-ancient-athens-to-rio/#7cc22c668e1e https://www.forbes.com/sites/drsarahbond/2016/08/10/how-athl... [2] https://www.thevintagenews.com/2017/01/18/the-highest-paid-athlete-of-all-time-was-a-roman-charioteer-if-he-had-lived-today-he-would-have-been-worth-15-billion/ https://www.thevintagenews.com/2017/01/18/the-highest-paid-a...