By Quentin G. Love
Good people, I appreciate you lending me your eyes, ears and minds for a few paragraphs as I collect my thoughts and opinion for you to respond to. It’s usually this time of year when we see the sun begin to emerge regularly. We feel active and competitive. We begin to appreciate the NBA and NHL playoffs, get ready for the NFL draft and gear up for the launch of the WNBA season (don’t sleep now). Combine that with the PGA majors on Sundays, a sports sweet spot is created before most folks have an attention lapse during the summer months to head out into the sunshine, take vacations and crown new league champions.
That is how it used to be. I’m predicting that this year that the traditional summer as we know it will be changed. This summer will be the launch of the socialized athlete using new mediums. With the explosive growth of Twitter, Facebook Fan Pages and personal blogs by athletes with real responses and timely new content, we’ve seen athletes embrace an innovative opportunity to connect with fans, rivals, their peers AND interested brands. The connections being created are fresh, resonating strongly and extend pass those quiet off-seasons and random sightings.
While these social media tools have shown exceptional potential for athletes, in addition to you I—when combined with a traditional mix such as a television show with a twist—athletes are able to cultivate their personal brand in new ways by giving them an opportunity to create an additional stream of income sources. Whether early in their career or winding down, an athlete having the foresight to develop potential relationships and gain experience allows brands to step in and peddle their wares while athletes compete in a new market. Brands have connected with Kobe to promote shoes, Shaq to raise awareness via viral videos to create chatter about a diet supplement and Dhani Jones to promote travel around the world.
While income isn’t always the focus, there are opportunities to brand out into a hobby or passion that a fan may not have known existed—one they may not agree with once the athlete leaves the court. One prime example of this could be Etan Thomas, an NBA player who contributes political thoughts for publications such as the Huffington Post and others. As we continue to grow the way we consume media, sports, news— whatever, leagues and athletes will more than likely enter these new spaces as they attempt to follow the fans—and the untapped revenue. So far all of the major governing sporting league bodies have created Twitter pages and are tweeting regularly and traditional media outlets have jumped on board as well in hopes of keeping up.
An additional benefit to these new mediums is that athletes can now circumvent or respond to the media who might misconstrue their statements or story. Instead of sitting down for an interview, they can simply tweet to their minds’ content, post an announcement on their fan page or—in the case of Chris Bosh, who last year wanted to be voted into the NBA All-Star game—may choose to upload a video detailing their opinion and encouraging fans to take action. Consequently, Bosh did in fact make the All-Star roster last year. The point is that athletes have an unfiltered opportunity to get on their soapbox—right or wrong— to voice their concerns on their own terms. While many athletes across different sports have began promoting their personal brand this way, we still don’t see some of the major, younger ‘stars’ participating, who would seem like the perfect paring for the oncoming texting fan-base. It will be interesting to see how this turns out, as we move forward and brands start to incorporate social media elements into their paid endorsement plans for athletes. Not everyone is texting, but most of your friends just might be and that’s the hope these companies have.
Check you all next month. Till then, you of course can follow me on Twitter here.
*By the time you actually read this article, I’m sure some things will have evolved further, but here’s one cool widget to add to your blog or Web site. It allows you to keep up with all professional female athletes on Twitter.
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