🏟 Athlete Brands vs Creator Brands

Happy early Father’s Day! Let’s jump right in to this edition of Sports Industry Weekly as we share insights from the most significant business headlines in the sports industry, including:

💰 Athlete brands vs Creator brands: PRIME vs Mas+ and The Shop vs W

👀 The five sports brands that made TIME’s 2024 list of 100 Most Influential Companies

✔️ Team USA Women's Basketball has a stacked roster made up of more than half Nike athletes (with two more Swoosh players on the alternates' list)

🤑 This powerhouse state just became the 36th state to allow NIL opportunities for high school student-athletes

ATHLETE BRANDS VS CREATOR BRANDS

Last week, we discussed Logan Paul’s success with his PRIME beverage brand and the controversy that Lionel Messi encountered after launching his own sports hydration drink, Mas+.

This week, Logan’s younger brother, Jake Paul, announced his new men's personal care brand, W—a collection of deodorant, body wash, and body spray inspired by the boxer and entrepreneur’s story.

A few months ago, LeBron and his team launched The Shop - a collection of men’s skin and hair care essentials.

Both W and The Shop products are available exclusively at Walmart stores.

In today’s business world, who has more influence: athletes or creators?

Let’s look at the social numbers:

MEN’S GROOMING:

👑 ATHLETE - LeBron: 211M+ total followers (159M on IG, 52.8M on X)

🥊 CREATOR - Jake Paul: 70M+ total followers (26.6M on IG, 4.5M on X, 17.7M on TikTok, 20.7M on YouTube)

HYDRATION BEVERAGE:

⚽️ ATHLETE - Messi: 503M+ total followers (only on IG)

🤳 CREATOR - Logan Paul: 75.8M+ total followers (27M on IG, 6.8M on X, 18.5M on TikTok, 23.5M on YouTube)

Which brands will come out on top?

Only time will tell, and we’ll revisit the sales numbers down the line.

📊 TIME released their 2024 list of 100 Most Influential Companies including five standout sports brands (Inter Miami CF, WNBA, Athletic Brewing, Overtime, Flutter Entertainment) and over a dozen industry partners, spotlighting the sports sector’s significant impact on global business trends. Regarding working in sports, SBV will be releasing a comprehensive resource with everything you need to advance your career in the sports industry. Just reply with “The Playbook,” and we’ll share early access with you!

📺 Shannon Sharpe signed a multi-year extension deal with ESPN after Disney’s CEO Bob Iger personally reached out to the NFL hall-of-famer. Sharpe will continue his role on First Take and will be included on other ESPN programs to be announced later. His podcast Club Shay Shay has skyrocketed in views as the show hit #1 most popular podcast on YouTube. The three-time Super Bowl champion has put on a masterclass in building his media personality and content empire.

🎮 Christian McCaffrey is the first San Francisco 49ers player to be featured as the cover athlete for the Madden video game series. The Madden franchise began in 1988, but the video game did not have NFL stars on the cover until 2001 (Eddie George). The game’s publisher, EA Sports, will have a busy summer as Madden 25 releases on August 16 and College Football 25 returns on July 19 (EA paid over $7.8 million in NIL to college student-athletes.)

🏈 adidas Football signed a group of seven talented high school football athletes to the brand’s inaugural adizero 7 Class. This NIL brand ambassador program was announced with Overtime as each player will be competing in the upcoming OT7 Championships. adidas has continued to invest at the grassroots level and specifically OT, as they previously committed to a multi-year sponsorship with the company’s OTE basketball league.

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🏀 Team USA Women's Basketball has announced their official roster competing in the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris. Nike is the official sponsor for the team and more than half of the players are also signed as Nike athletes. Two other Nike athletes were named as the roster’s top alternates, WNBA rookie Caitlin Clark and Connecticut Sun's Brionna Jones, as they would be one of the first in line if a team replacement is needed. The Paris 2024 Olympic Games will begin on July 26 with the opening ceremony scheduled at 7:30 pm local time.

🎙 Unanimous Media announced their new show Heat Check, a new Audible podcast hosted by Stephen and Dell Curry. The father-son duo will share their family’s journey and favorite basketball stories. Stephen is the latest superstar athlete to launch a podcast (LeBron, Travis Kelce, etc) as athletes continue to own their own narratives and share their stories on their own media platforms. Which superstar athlete do you want to see start their own podcast?

💵 Florida is a powerhouse grassroots sports state and they just became the 36th state to allow NIL deals at the high school level. High school student-athlete in the following states are still not eligible for NIL opportunities: Alabama, Hawaii, Indiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Montana, North Carolina, South Carolina, South Dakota, Ohio, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming, and Texas. Will the remaining 14 states follow suit?

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