Messi to PSG & NCAA QB to NHL
Reebok entering the AR game. Miami QB maximizes on NIL. Messi taking over Paris.
On Today’s Agenda:
Reebok using Augmented Reality to sell Shoes
Miami Hurricanes QB working with Florida Panthers
The New Era of Messi in France
Reebok Courting Greatness
Childhood Imagination x Modern Technology
Source: Reebok
Technology is the way of the future and we are now seeing it become the future of the sport. Whether it’s eSports, VAR in soccer, Biomechanics for athletes, etc. But now it is being used for more than just in the sport itself.
Reebok announced its new app called Courting Greatness. An app that allows users to use Augmented Reality (AR) to be creative with basketball. The app uses the user’s camera to analyze any landscape they’re looking at and creates a virtual basketball court, with the exact dimensions of the court. With this app you can use your camera to look at a wall and BOOM you have the exact layout of a basketball court.
Reebok is trying to inspire creativity in the youth today to find sport in any way possible. With their announcement, they said, “All you need is a ball, a pair of shoes, and a surface.” And that’s what Reebok is trying to do; by providing the surface and the sneakers at the same time.
This app was released alongside the new Allen Iverson 4 sneakers in an attempt to get people wearing their shoes and using the app to get involved in basketball no matter where they are.
From our perspective, it will be really interesting to see how effective this ad campaign will really be. But we find it even cooler how technology can be used in virtually every element of the sport. I remember shooting hoops in my driveway and had no idea where the 3 point line was. With this app, it would definitely help.
Will more brands and teams use AR in the future? Or is this going to be hit or miss? I guess we’ll find out.
NCAA QB Making a Splash in Hockey
Florida Panthers NIL Program
Source: Florida Panthers
The NHL offseason is where players get to cash in on teams looking to make improvements to their roster. While fans get excited for the new players joining their favourite teams on the ice, the Florida Panthers are making a splash in their agency by signing a - quarterback?
You read that right. The Florida Panthers signed University of Miami QB D’Eriq King as part of their FLA Athlete program, making King the first college athlete to sign a NIL agreement with a pro sports team. The program aims to provide NCAA athletes in Florida opportunities to work with the Panthers for promotional opportunities.
King, who has already signed at least 6 NIL deals with brands like Panini, will make in-person appearances and participate in digital programming with the Panthers, which will only add to King’s brand. With his own merch line, King has started to make a name for himself off the field - one can only imagine his social value if he goes on to have a successful pro career after college.
The Panthers aim to “reach and engage South Florida sports fans in new ways”, Chief Strategy Officer Sam Doerr explains. The Panthers notoriously rank near the bottom in NHL attendance yearly, and it’s refreshing to see the team make a bold move to hopefully bring more fans to their home games.
The Panthers hope to work with female athletes and Olympians as well through this program, tapping into the diversity of their audience by going beyond the traditional sports and college stars. For college athletes, this move hopes to start a movement across the country for pro sports franchises to support and invest in local talent. Teams have historically built development programs to create a pipeline for athletes to play for the teams, but it is refreshing to see platforms being launched to invest in marketing college athletes and growing their brands.
Messi to PSG
The Immediate Impact on The Club
Source: SJR10
In last week’s newsletter (subscribe if you haven’t already), we discussed one of the bigger sports stories of the year. Messi left Barcelona! Now that he has officially signed with a new club, for the first time in his professional career, we can look at the impact he will have on them going forward.
Messi watch was in full effect, it was as if we were watching a high-speed police chase in the 80s, our eyes were peeled to our screens. Is Messi still home? Yup. How about now? No? Where did he go? He’s on his way to the airport, to catch a flight to Paris. Has he landed? Yes. Let the crowd ensue and the games begin. From the moment Leo stepped off of the plane, we’d say PSG did a solid job in capitalizing on the moment. First, they swapped him out of his tee to a PSG “ici c’est Paris” tee which was available on Fanatics but now sold out, obviously.
You can, however, purchase a “ici c’est wwm” tee here. We had to capitalize on the moment.
From then on, they had control of every moment and maximized the eyes fixated on them. They continued the build-up on social media, continuously teasing his signing, yet everyone already knew he was already on his way. Since then the last 24 posts on PSG’s Instagram account were about Messi, that’s wild! Additionally, their numbers have just sky-rocketed! Their account was already massive beforehand but since his signing, they have more than doubled their Instagram following to 45M.
With all this increased attention and numbers, we get to the question what impact does it have now? Every aspect of their business has now increased in value, whether it’s sponsorships, media rights, or even apparel providers. However, unlike Barcelona, PSG does not have all of their eggs in one basket, they are actually set up quite nicely regardless of when Messi leaves or retires. Barcelona tied the majority of their marketing, sponsorship, and even broadcasting to Messi. However, last year once it became clear there was uncertainty in his future at the club, deals started to fall through and companies wanted short-term deals. This put the club in financial distress, which reiterates the point in building up the personal brands of athletes even if clubs won’t necessarily reap all the benefits, it still adds value to their business.
We can see this now with PSG, yes, they do have one of the biggest names in sports now but they also have many other large personalities. Mbappe. Neymar. Ramos. Donnarumma. Etc. PSG will have the flexibility to push opportunities amongst their various athletes rather than relying on the one, this will allow for greater future success as their financial future is within their own control.
Whether you’re a Messi fan, or not, your eyes will be glued to PSG this upcoming season, to see what the club does next whether it is on or off the pitch.