The Mystery of Flippable Jersey, Early Retirement & The Moustache
Justin Bieber x Maple Leafs. Ash Barty Retirement. Madness of Doug Edert.
Our thoughts are with the country and people of Ukraine, hoping a peaceful end is near.
On Today’s Agenda:
Justin Bieber’s ‘Drew House’ Collabs with Maple Leafs
Tennis Star Calls It Early
The Story of March Madness
Maple Leafs Release Innovative Jersey with Justin Bieber
Blue & White Flipping to Black & Yellow
Canadian music icon Justin Bieber is back at it again with another collaboration with a massive organization. First, it was Tim Hortons with the release of Bieber-inspired Timbits: TimBiebs. Now, the Toronto Maple Leafs will wear a Bieber-designed alternative jersey against the New Jersey Devils next week.
This release is just packed with collaborations. We’ve got the Leafs, Bieber, Bieber’s brand Drew House, Adidas, and the Leaf’s annual Next Gen game… WOW!
The jersey as you can see is black with some blue finishing on the base and sleeves with a modern-looking Toronto logo with a blue tie-dye feel to it within the leaf. The numbers on the back are all black and you can even subtly see the Toronto skyline in the background.
But this isn’t new for teams. New jerseys are released all the time, however, this jersey is reversible, the very first reversible jersey in the NHL. The reversed side has gone for quite a controversial design: the Leaf's biggest rivals’ colourway, the yellow and black of the Boston Bruins. With yellow stripes on the sleeves and one of the bases of the jersey, the collaborative jersey features the normal leaf logo but only in outline, with the yellow Drew House logo inside of it, showcasing Bieber’s fashion brand right in the middle.
Overall, this jersey looks clean, but from a point of view of fans, not so much. Some fans are not going to be happy wearing the colours of the Bruins. Vinay Menon from the Toronto Star even said “For better or worse - and it’s been worse since 1967 - the Leafs are blue and white. With his “Next Gen” jerseys, Bieber is screwing with our team colours for sport and profit.”. Not exactly the impression this collaboration was looking to inspire.
However, this collaboration is pretty awesome. Having a Canadian icon and fashion brand collaborate with a professional hockey team hasn’t really been seen before. We’ve seen Jordan collab with PSG and other iconic brands partner with NBA teams, but never really in the NHL.
This has the potential to open up the NHL and hockey as a whole to become an internationally loved sport and hopefully create a similar impact the Jordan collab had with PSG’s massive increase in fans.
Winner of Australian Open Retires Unexpectedly
Tennis #1, Ash Barty Hangs It Up at 25
Ash Barty shocked the sporting world this week with her sudden and unexpected retirement from professional tennis. The reigning Australian Open champion posted an honest and heartfelt video on her social media accounts to explain her reasoning for her decision and stated that she no longer had the physical or emotional drive to compete at the highest level. Although it came as a surprise to fans, the tennis world quickly came to support her decision and began to celebrate her legacy in the sport.
Barty, who has been ranked #1 in the WTA rankings for the last 114 weeks, has been one of the most dominant tennis players in the world in recent years. After having success in women’s doubles, winning the US Open with CoCo Vandeweghe in 2018, Barty finally broke through in the singles game by winning the French Open in 2019. Her success continued as she won the Wimbledon Championships in 2021 and received a bronze medal in mixed doubles at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo. Barty concluded her tennis career on top, by becoming the first Australian woman to win the Australian Open since 1978.
Where will Barty go from here? Professional athletes have historically struggled post-retirement without proper plans in place for what to do next. However, it’s safe to say that Barty won’t have that issue. In 2014, Barty temporarily retired from tennis after citing an intense travel schedule as a teenager for reasons contributing to her burnout from the sport. Instead of taking time off like most athletes during a break, Barty joined the Brisbane Heat women’s cricket team in Australia after never playing competitive cricket in her life. Once again, she found success and was signed to their professional squad for the 2015/16 season. After the season ended in February 2016, she returned to professional tennis and started her second journey to the top of women’s tennis.
Given the comments in her interview, it’s likely that we won’t see Barty playing professional tennis again, at least not for a while. Barty is happy with her decision to retire on top and seems genuinely excited about her future. Some suggest that she might be headed towards professional golf. Barty is a “fanatic” of the sport and has even impressed Tiger Woods with her swing at the 2019 Presidents Cup in Melbourne. With her history of trying new sports, it would not be surprising to see Barty find success in the golf industry.
Although many fans are disappointed with her decision to retire from the sport at such a young age, some believe that this is only another “temporary” retirement from the defending champion. As we have seen recently, retirements in sports are not always what they seem. After 44-year-old Tom Brady returned from his long-awaited retirement to announce he’s coming back for a 23rd season in the NFL, some fans have a hard time believing in retirement. It’s been used as a ploy for attention in the past by athletes such as Floyd Mayweather, Michael Jordon, George St. Pierre, and Rob Gronkowski. Whether they meant it at the moment or not, many athletes are pulled back into the sport after retirement, contradicting their original statements.
Despite the history with professional athletes retiring on top and coming back in the future, it's safe to say that fans will respect Ash Barty’s decision regardless of what she does later in life. Barty retired as the #1 ranked women’s tennis player after winning a Grand Slam in her home country, it doesn’t get much sweeter than that.
Doug Edert: The Man, the Myth, The Moustache
The Story of March Madness
With March coming to an end, the madness has certainly delivered. Number 15 seed Saint Peter’s has upset Number 2 Kentucky and Number 7 Murray State to reach the Sweet 16, where they’ll be taking on Number 3 seed Purdue later today (March 25). At the beginning of the tournament, we talked about how NCAA basketball athletes can take advantage of the spotlight shone upon them during March Madness. Let’s take a deeper dive into the brand of Saint Peter’s – and particularly Doug Edert.
Doug Edert has emerged as a star for the Cinderella Saint Peter’s Peacocks, and his play (along with his moustache, has helped propel his stardom in the tournament. Edert has secured two partnerships during the tournament with Barstool and Buffalo Wild Wings. The financial terms of the deal are not disclosed, but we can take a look at Edert’s Instagram to see the activation come to life.
Edert’s deal with Buffalo Wild Wings is part of a campaign with Overtime – coming off the heels of Edert’s performance in the Peacocks’ overtime upset over the Kentucky Wildcats. Edert is seated in front of boxes of wings, with a deal in the caption for fans to take advantage of. The post had a social value of $12, 948 and a 11.98% engagement rate – good win for Buffalo Wild Wings to capture Edert’s audience when more eyes were on him after his team’s victory.
Doug Edert also has a merch line on the Barstool store, with the nickname “Dougie Buckets” and an image of him after draining a shot against Kentucky. The original picture and the merch post both have similar engagement rates. However, his original Instagram post had a $30, 519 social value, compared to his merchandise post which holds a $5,751 social value.
Both deals show an athlete’s ability to capture a moment and partner with a brand to monetize it. For an athlete at a college with just over 2300 students – this stage is one of the biggest and brightest. It’s amazing to see how Doug Edert’s brand has risen because of his performance in the tournament, and brands are started to take notice. While a pro career is not guaranteed for Edert, these partnerships will form a foundation for Doug’s brand to (hopefully) last beyond his NCAA career.
With this year’s March Madness tournament being the first since the NCAA allowed athletes to monetize their name, image, and likeness (NIL), the opportunities were endless for brands to partner with athletes. It remains to be seen how sustainable these deals are. As we preach constantly at white whale mktg – longevity is the key for athlete-brand partnerships.