The Ball Family may Revolutionize Sports Marketing
Chino Hills, Ca. - Earlier this week Lavar Ball and his son Lonzo, a projected top-3 pick in the 2017 NBA Draft, made headlines as it was reported that Lonzo would not be signing a major endorsement deal due to Lavar’s insistence on including the family’s Big Baller Brand as a co-partner—something similar to the relationship between Nike and Jordan Brand. According to an ESPN article, Lonzo—19 (20 in October)—had unsuccessful meetings with three major sports brands: Nike, Adidas, and Under Armour.
These reports were followed by a heavy onslaught of negative reactions on social media and amongst sports journalists. Lavar, 48, has been at the center of this criticism; the majority seem to believe that he is overinvolved in Lonzo’s career, and that this will be the first of many financial losses if he does not back off.
George Raveling, a global basketball consultant for Nike, offered his thoughts at a recent Sports Business Journal event where he referred to Lavar as “The worst thing to happen to basketball in the last hundred years.”
Considering that American basketball is not even 70 years removed from being segregated (the NBA integrated in 1950), this comment is obviously a nonsensical bit of sarcasm or a sign of sheer ignorance. Nonetheless, Raveling must have been pretty fired up to say that one man could be so detrimental to an entire sport.
...But why?
Afterall, Lonzo is only one athlete; one of many athletes that sports brands will be able to sign and make a sizeable amount of money with. The sportswear industry is booming with or without the Ball family, so why would someone like Raveling or any other executive even care?
Could it be that they view Big Baller Brand and its outspoken CEO (Lavar) as a legitimate threat to their thriving business? Probably not, but don’t tell that to Lavar. On April 21 he posted his first Instagram video where he said, “Big Baller Brand (is) about to be your competition,” in addition to addressing Raveling’s comments.
Major sports brands may not be worried by his words, but they have to be nervous about what they can lead to. The Ball family is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to athletes managing and marketing themselves. It may work out for them; it may not.
However, their success or failure will not change the fact that athletes and fans across the country have been watching this and taking note. Even if Big Baller Brand flops and Lonzo eventually signs a deal “the ol’ fashioned way,” someone is going to try again. That is why this is so alarming to the major sports brands.
One day, a family is going to do this the right way, and there will be nothing they can do to combat that moment. It is a possibility that the Ball family will be the one to do it successfully, but they do not have to be. Win or lose, they have initiated a major shift in the way superstar athletes market themselves.
