On Today’s Agenda:
Should the EPL get into NFTs?
What do Lebron and Liverpool have in store?
How do you build an athlete’s brand?
Should the EPL get into NFTs?
Why the EPL is Drawing Concerns Regarding Their Newest Partnership Category
Original Photo: Michael Regan/ Getty Images
If you haven’t heard of an NFT yet, you’re falling behind. Read this blog, previously made by the wwm team to enlighten you before you continue reading. Now that you, your mom, and all of your friends from university are caught up on NFTs, let’s fill you in on the latest news. The English Premier League (EPL) is considering a partnership with a crypto platform. Who isn’t? Some clubs are already involved with NFTs whether it be with Socios or Sorare, where the respective platforms allow fans to collect digital assets like tokens or trading cards.
However, this is where we get to the meat and potatoes of it all: fans are concerned. With crypto being an unregulated space, consumers aren’t protected. Thus, fans have a higher risk of losing money if they fall down the wrong rabbit hole.
Additionally, the EPL is also facing issues regarding sports betting companies as sponsors. Why do you ask? The same issue as crypto, fans are concerned. Both crypto and gambling are offerings that fans need to engage with responsibly. With that, Parliament is discussing the possibility of nixing clubs the opportunity to partner with gambling sponsors due to this concern.
Now you may be wondering, if sports betting companies are banned from sponsorships, should crypto be banned as well?
Those decisions are beyond our paygrade and we’ll leave that to Parliament. Fortunately, sporting marketing is right in our wheelhouse and we’ll be sure to provide you with some thoughts on the good and bad sides of NFTs in sports.
The Good. It’s a new way for fans to engage or interact with fans. Not everyone is psyched about inheriting their parent’s old o’pee chee cards, some much rather be fully digital. No paper. No books. All cloud, all the time. They’d even ask why would I not invest in something that provides me pleasure and potential value. No brainer. In addition to the pleasure and value they receive from purchasing their favourite players' NFTs, maybe there are some tangible benefits that are included: signed jersey? Meet and greet? Exclusive fan club to consume athlete content? Love it. There’s an endless amount of options that an NFT could provide to the modern-day fan and athlete if done correctly.
The Bad. Joey from down the block purchases an Auston Matthews NFT, WHOOPIE! He hasn’t been this psyched since the Leafs last playoff win…, he’s going to get rich and he has something Jim from around the corner doesn’t - Auston Matthews’ NFT. But, wait. Crypto plummeted at 2 am last night, why? No idea. So the asset that Joey purchased for $10,000 is no longer worth $10,000 8 hours later, but it’s actually worth $4,000. His family is going to kill him! How does that impact an athlete you may ask? Well now Joey, the die-hard fan, has a negative sentiment connected to his favourite player. Not only has his team not won a playoff round, but they’ve now lost him significant coin, the loonie kind. This is why at white whale mktg, we went through the whole process of developing NFTs for some of our athletes but stopped at the 1-yard line. Our NFTs are available on OpenSea (marketplace for NFTs), but we have not sold or auctioned them to ensure the sentiments around our athletes are still within our control.
Lebron to Liverpool: Confirmed
What do Lebron and Liverpool Have in Store?
AFP
Don’t let the headline fool you - LeBron is still a Los Angeles Laker, and is still a basketball superstar (until Shams or Woj says otherwise), even though it would be very believable that LeBron found himself playing professionally in a different sport. However, we will soon see the king (or his likeness at least) on the pitch in England.
Some context: LeBron James has part ownership in Fenway Sports Group - which owns the MLB’s Boston Red Sox, the English Premier League’s Liverpool FC, and most recently, the NHL’s Pittsburgh Penguins.
It was announced earlier this week that LeBron will be working with Nike to launch a merchandise line with Liverpool FC. This marks a significant move for LeBron, who is taking his brand across the ocean and transcending into a whole new sport.
In a recent interview, Liverpool FC Chairman Tom Werner explained that “Nike is creating seven or eight products that connect LeBron with soccer.” Although details have yet to be released, Werner claims that “they’re going to create seven or eight products that rival the connection that Michael Jordan has with Nike.”
That last line in Werner’s quote struck loud in my mind, and in the discussion, we had on the wwm pod. The last time we saw an athlete transcend sports on the merch side was when the Air Jordan brand created a new line of streetwear in a collaboration with Paris Saint Germain.
The Air Jordan brand, logo, and name represent the gold standard for an athlete’s brand - one that goes beyond the athlete’s achievements in their sport, and lives as a separate identity. When Jordan and LeBron are brought up in the same conversation, comparisons are impossible to avoid - and LeBron’s newest venture has the Jordan conversation-starting again (this time off the court).
The 21st Century has brought us the biggest names in sport all-time - LeBron, Federer, Messi, Ronaldo, Serena Williams, Tiger Woods. Of the 6 athletes I just listed, 4 have an existing partnership with Nike and are synonymous with the swoosh, LeBron being one of them. The point is, Nike athletes have a disadvantage in creating an independent brand like Air Jordan, because of how tied their brand identity is with the company. When LeBron signed a life-long deal with Nike in 2015, the fate was sealed. LeBron has been the face of Nike since he got drafted, and Nike has equally been the face of LeBron.
In the early stages of this development, the million (maybe billion) dollar question is how successful this venture will be. The English football audience is very local and protective of their tradition and culture - a topic we have discussed often on the pod. How will they react to the merchandise? Will it connect to the culture of the Liverpool fanbase - or will it be an attempt to democratize the fanbase and appeal to a more international (specifically North-American) audience?
The good news is that Liverpool certainly has the best athlete for the job - if any athlete can transcend sports, it’s the king himself. LeBron has shown himself to be a Liverpool fan for years now, and his ownership is a stronger showing of his support for the club. For this to work, LeBron needs to embrace the market, and the market needs to embrace LeBron. It cannot be stressed enough that as the EPL market grows globally, the unique characteristics that make the league what it is are homegrown and must be recognized when growing the brand.
The leap of faith Liverpool, Nike, and LeBron James are taking in this venture is both exciting and questionable. A phrase you may hear often on the pod is “the proof is in the pudding”, and the success of this merchandise launch will be found in the Yorkshire Merseyside Pudding.
How to Build an Athlete’s Brand
Athlete’s and Their Brands
AP Photo /Danny Karnik
CR7. JE11. TB12. Ric3. Shall I go on? CP3. Had to get one more in there. If you’re reading this, you want the good stuff - how do you grow an athlete’s brand? First, be original. Be unapologetically you. But, what if you suck as a human? Don’t build a brand. People see right through it, consumers and fans are smart.
Now continuing on with the decent humans who want to develop a brand - what have we learned so far? Be authentic. Be genuine. Be you. Meaning? The initials + number combo for your brand has to stop and the same goes for the silhouette. Jordan will be the only silhouette that matters and I’d recommend not trying to compete with it. Now you may be wondering, well what else can I use for a logo that describes who I am. Let me think about that… your face. Nothing says personal, like the reflection in the mirror. I’m not wrong, am I?
But, wait! That’s not cool, it’s not a flashy logo that I can show off to my friends or fans. You’re absolutely right, as Meek Mill once said there are “levels to this shit”. If you’re starting off a personal brand, give yourself room to grow. Think about it, if you fully commit to a brand that offers clothing to football fans, what are you going to do when you stop playing football? Will the brand die? No! A successful personal brand for an athlete is one that they buy into. If you’re not interested in fan gear, don’t create a brand that solely revolves around that. Create a personal brand that builds off of your interests, this way you can still dive into football, outdoors, or even cooking avenues without constantly having to rebrand! Authenticity leads to longevity.
Look, I came off strong earlier to make a point. I’m not completely against players using their numbers within their brand but I think that should be reserved for athletes who essentially own numbers. 99, Gretzky. 23, Jordan. And 7, Ronaldo. Other than a select few who can potentially rival these greats, I’d recommend the route of being you. Too often I’m in meetings where athletes want to get a logo and create a brand that separates it from themselves. Which I’ll never understand. If you’re given a platform, use it. This is why our tagline at white whale mktg is helping athletes and sporting brands maximize their time under the spotlight.
If you maximize your time under the light correctly, you will have built something special that no longer needs the light. If you’re looking to shine - contact us @whitewhalemktg.