There they were on a beautiful Boston afternoon, Tom Brady and Julian Edelman, riding the Duck Boats in the Patriots Victory parade, adorned not in Patriots Championship merchandise but in tee-shirts of their own, owned design, readily available for sale. The tee shirts come just days after Miami Heat star Dwayne Wade announced his deal with Bleacher Report on custom designed apparel, some featuring his image, that is also available for sale. The athlete as brand, as controllable brand, where he or she keeps the profits, continues to rise.
Now the debate over who controls what images is not a new one. In recent months we have seen player tattoos used in video games come under question as to who controls the intellectual property, and any host of athletes over the years have looked to copyright slogans or images that they have been a part of. Many times the cost of inventory, or the cost of controllable images, especially ones where marks are held by teams or leagues, have limited creativity and profitability. However now, for the forward thinking, but also well positioned athlete as brand, complete control on sale, distribution, and most importantly, creative license can be in his or her hands.
One of the key changes is now in inventory. A company like Fanatics has streamlined the ordering vs. inventory process, creating orders as demand sees fit. A tee-shirt or hat only sells 100 pieces; only make 100 when the orders come in. You need 1,000. Have the blanks ready to go with a computer design, and out they go in hours. No more warehouses filled with winning and losing teams, with the poor inventory being sent off at a loss to a third world country. You only print what you sell, and now athletes or even celebrities or media personalities (Barstool Sports has made a killing on custom merch, as we saw with the Roger Goodell red nose tee shirt the last few years that was printed on demand as orders came on) can align with custom print shops to handle fulfillment affordably and timely as orders come in.
And how do orders come in? Another blessing of the digitally savvy athlete as brand. While it is great to have a media partner to push direct to consumer, the direct to consumer push can literally come from the athlete or personality to their followers through their own channels. It is influencer marketing 101, only instead of a third party brand, it is the athlete brand as him or herself. Of course the platform of wide media coverage; a parade, a TV appearance, even a long stop on radio row, doesn’t hurt either, especially if the image is product is quality and easy to convey to a wide public audience.
Now this doesn’t mean that every athlete, from high school to world champions, can suddenly start hawking custom merchandise and it will work. Scores of athletes have tried, and failed, at selling their own custom logoed gear. Sometimes their market is not demanding enough, sometimes the user experience for the consumer, visiting a website for example, is very poor. Sometimes the product isn’t very good or has a small shelf life. Sometimes there is backlash as being too commercial and not authentic enough to the audience. Sometimes even worse, athletes put their trust in third parties who overestimate demand or do not run a smooth business, with too much overhead, and the effort falls flat and into the red. Then there are the challenges of conveying the merch within the confines of a rightsholder situation, like on a victory podium. Most leagues have strict rules against an ambush for merch, and for the lost part those standards, even in the chaos of a locker room hold true. The victory parade for now? That appears to be open territory, as does the social space for the savvy entrepreneur athlete, or even coach, as brand.
So congrats TB 12 and Julian on the continued growth of brand. They saw the opportunity and took advantage, a win for them that will be ongoing, and something to watch the success rate not just for elite athletes, but for any with a solid following and a Jones for merch.
