Last week we reached out to quite a few teams, leagues and brands to ask about their potential April Fools Day plans. After all for decades creative and entrepreneurial folks have taken advantage to out one over on a passionate public (here is a look at some from recent years), so this year should have been no different right?
Wrong.
For almost all…with the exceptions being the PBR (which did even get some backlash for those who didn’t get the date and the nuance), Utah State Football, the Seahawks mascot…the answer was thanks but no thanks. The attention deprived, the risk of distraction from people who didn’t understand the joke, and frankly too many people taking themselves way too seriously brought most of sports and pranks to a grinding halt. It wasn’t worth the effort for most, or the creative juice for some, and this year slid away with a thud. Too bad.
However that’s a half empty glass. This week also brought a high five for those who hustled to find a quick voice, turn a quick opportunity, and continue to drive joy from the entrepreneurial. Some examples included the guy in Manhattan who within minutes started cranking out tee shirts celebrating surviving the New York earthquake (the on demand economy let him make em for $10 and print as he got orders, resulting in a nice amount of sales), and a detailed story in Front Office Sports about two college students…in Alaska…who have built a network of similar minded students prowling the country for quick Name Image and Likeness Deals….and landed a solid series as N.C. State’s likable big man D.J. Burns entered the unlikely public focus heading to the Final Four.
Both are great examples of realizing what sports is starting to forget about as value. Attention and investment grows…we need to be able to strike quickly, be present in the moment, see opportunity, derive a quick narrative and act…joyfully…before the moment goes. In sports, those moments come and go quickly. Now will there be a long tail for earthquake tees or Burns NIL deals? Who knows.
But for those who took the time to craft an April Fool’s narrative, or seize a moment in time, there is joyful benefit and creative growth. Lets champion those and worry a little less. It’s a fun business, continue to keep it so.
While Trying To reach The Masses, Never Forget The Power of “The Audience of One”…