Taking Canada Soccer, The NBA & NHL All-Star Weekend To The Next Level
Davies Streams Canada Match. Draymond Making Waves. NHL All-Star.
On Today’s Agenda:
Alphonso Davies Cheers National Team From Twitch Stream
Draymond Green Signs His Biggest Deal Yet
Why The NHL Should Consider A New Format
Canada Soccer Making Noise Both On & Off The Pitch
Alphonso Davies Cheers National Team From Twitch Stream
CanMNT
Last night, Canada took on Honduras in the World Cup Qualifiers and came away with an important 2-0 victory for the boys in red. However, Canada was without one of its star players: Alphonso Davies. But Davies was not far from the action. Sat at home, in front of his screen watching the reds play, was the best thing Alphonso Davies could do. Phonsie streamed himself watching the game on Twitch, with some hilarious reactions to Tajon Buchannan and Jonathan David impressed for Canada.
But we see this more as an injured/ill/not playing soccer player sitting live watching his national team play. We see this as a MASSIVE opportunity for Twitch to get into the sports industry. Although streamers are not legally allowed to show any broadcast footage, they can still watch along with their viewers and provide some great commentary.
This could bring some crazy numbers of new viewers to Twitch. Perhaps Twitch x Alphonso Davies might need to happen. Imagine if Twitch helped him set up his own little viewing room where Davies can hilariously commentate and watch the top games around the world, both international and domestic. Hopefully, we could see an Alphonso Davies Twitch on his off-days from Bayern Munich, maybe we even see some brand deals for Davies’ stream. All in all, Twitch has the perfect opportunity to utilize what is essentially a possible brand partner who is right under their noses! (and don’t forget extremely popular)
Another thought is: Why didn’t OneSoccer partner with their main man Alphonso? Sportsnet consistently partners with Steve Dangle to give him exclusive rights to stream the game live - with the game on his stream! If OneSoccer did this then the potential would be ridiculous. Alphonso would probably get more views than OneSoccer’s platform. This can be the perfect opportunity for OneSoccer to gain more viewers by utilizing their Canadian National Superstar for their broadcasts - I mean seriously, who better to bring in a new audience than our own Captain Canada.
Overall, this type of stream really excites us in terms of potential for Twitch, Davies, the National team, and even OneSoccer. Watch-alongs have been very successful in the past and they have so much potential if done with the right people and brands. Hopefully, we can see more of it in the future, even though we prefer to see Davies on the field, and just remember: white whale mktg did it first…
Outside the Game, Inside the NBA
Draymond Green Signs His Biggest Deal Yet
TNT
Draymond Green has been a polarising name in NBA debates across the continent. Some will argue that he’s overrated, others (myself included) will point to all the ways he adds value to the court and helps the splash brothers do their thing on the offensive side of the court. Regardless of how you feel about Draymond Green, he is undoubtedly a Swiss Army knife for the Golden State Warriors, and a big part of their small-ball revolution. The 3x NBA Champion continues to add to his resume, this time off the court. Green has reached an agreement with Turner Sports to be an analyst for TNT’s Inside the NBA, and be part of other NBA related content for the network.
Draymond is not new to the television world, as he has made multiple appearances on Inside the NBA alongside Shaq, Charles, Ernie, and Kenny. Additionally, he has his own interview series titled Chips on the Bleacher Report (which was acquired by Turner Sports in 2012). This series puts Draymond in the interviewer’s seat as he holds conversations with NBA stars - headlined by an episode featuring Kevin Durant discussing his fallout with Draymond’s Golden State Warriors.
This multi-year deal between Green and Turner Sports is one of the first of its kind - when have we seen an athlete regularly make analyst appearances while still actively playing? The Golden State Warriors are contending for a high playoff seed (and an NBA championship) this season, and Draymond is slated to work part-time on TV? Talk about a dream come true.
Sports fans are no stranger to athletes taking on TV roles post-retirement: the Manning brothers on the Manningcast, Shaq, Charles, and Kenny on Inside the NBA, and even Paul ‘Biznasty’ Bissonnette on TNT’s NHL broadcasts. But not many active players come to mind - minus this appearance on Sportsnet by PK Subban.
The Draymond deal should be exciting news for fans, marketers, professionals, and most importantly, the athletes. Draymond Green’s personality on TV combined with his expert knowledge of the game, helping to break down plays and strategies to a national audience has primed him for a television role. He’s most definitely set himself up for a full-time TV gig once he decides to call it a career in the NBA.
For current athletes, this deal demonstrates the importance of branding and content - two important words that we use every hour at white whale mktg. Not every athlete may want a TV deal and be in the spotlight, and that’s completely fine. Working on your brand can be done behind the scenes as well, and it is equally important to open yourself up to opportunities you may not know exist. Many athletes consider coaching or management to be an option post-retirement, staying close to the sport that they eat, sleep, and breathe. However, we can see from many examples beyond Draymond that you can take your knowledge of the game and apply it to content (without changing who you are). Take a look at what Kurt Warner is doing on Youtube, breaking down NFL games and players for a community of 36k+ subscribers.
For athletes looking to create their own content, look around and you’ll find opportunities everywhere. Whether TV is the dream or not, Draymond’s deal is just another proof that the sky is never the limit - it is only the beginning.
Bringing The World Stage To NHL All-Star Weekend
Why The NHL Should Consider A New Format
gamewornauctions.net
Over the last number of years, hockey fans have been looking forward to the 2022 Olympics. It was set to be the first time that the hockey world would have a best on best tournament in 8 years. Unfortunately, with the current status of COVID, the NHL has backed out of the competition and players will no longer be able to attend.
With this news, some have suggested that it should be of utmost importance for the league to recreate the World Cup of hockey to ensure the current group of superstars have the opportunity to play with, and against, one another whilst representing their country. This notion was quickly put to rest as the league stated require 18 months or so to put on an event of that magnitude.
What now?
Well, why not the All-Star game? Fans have often lost interest in the contest and each year it is a constant debate on how to make the game relevant. The format has been ever-changing and at one point they had an international-like format where Gretzky and Team North America took on Jaromir Jagr and Team World. Let’s go back to it! With the current format already being 4 teams competing in 3 on 3, let’s go with Team Canada, Team USA, Team Russia, and Team Europe.
Sure, the numbers of each team would need some tweaking and maybe a better division of the European teams but you get the just. This is a marquee event for the NHL and their partners. By creating more hype around the event and competition, it’ll finally bring the All-Star game back to must-watch hockey.
Building on this, the NHL is looking to grow the game and leverage their newfound international stars. This would provide a great entry point for foreign fans to get in on NHL action, and the same can be said for international partnerships. If this format were to be successful, why not take the competition international? The planning and resources would be similar to a typical All-Star game but the difference is the experience you’re creating and the markets you’re touching. Picture the All-Star game taking place in Davos.
There’s an endless amount of options of how to improve the All-Star festivities and we can write on and on about it if we wanted to get into further detail. But, for the current timing and the lack of international hockey fans have been able to take in at the highest level, I think this would be a great alternative.
