Three-bedroom apartments with ocean views at Las Olas River House, a new condominium building on the beach in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, typically sell for $1.8m – unless you’re former US football star Dan Marino.

To help set the 278-unit, 42-storey residential tower apart from all the others in the area, its developer, Tarragon, gave the retired Hall of Fame quarterback and television commentator a discount of more than 15 per cent on a 3,382 sq ft unit, according to people familiar with the deal. (A Tarragon spokesman would not confirm the exact amount but acknowledged there was a price reduction.) In exchange, Marino agreed to help with publicity, lending his familiar image to billboards and magazines ads. And it has apparently paid off. More than 80 cent of the Las Olas condos are now sold, thanks in large part to the celebrity endorsement.