Barcelona is Entering the Diamond Trade đ
Plus a transfer market round-up, Nike tops brand list and Chinese shoe makes big move into NBA.
We all have that one friend, cousin, or colleague that never seems to have any money and yet always claims to be involved in âthe next Apple or Amazon.âÂ
One minute they are asking for a small loan to start a dating app for lonely zoo keepers and the next minute they want you to invest in a digital artwork of a monkey playing tennis.
In the football world, there is one that fits this description perfectly⌠Gerard Pique Barcelona.
The Catalan club has tried almost everything to raise extra funds and ease its well-reported financial pressures. These legendary âfinancial leversâ have included everything from selling players and advertising space to their own TV rights.Â
While these have worked to some extent (Barcelona did build a team that won La Liga) it appears that more funds are required, and the club has taken an unexpected routeâŚit has joined the diamond trade.Â
That being said, donât expect to see Barcelona opening any diamond mines. The club is actually going to be making diamonds out of grass cuttings from Camp Nou using a special laboratory carbonisation process.Â
The laboratory, which previously made diamonds out of strands of Peleâs hair, will take cuttings of the Camp Nou pitch and carbonise them before placing the organic matter into similar conditions as those experienced by a natural diamond under the ground. The entire process will take around a week to go from grass to diamond.
Barcelona is hoping to create thousands of gems that will be used for pins, bracelets, cufflinks, rings, and necklaces.
Several one-carat diamonds are set to be cut, with the price of one carat expected to reach over âŹ14,000.Â
In total, Barcelona wants to net more than âŹ30 million from its diamond venture.Â
This isnât the only financial plan that Barcelona has. The club is reportedly considering floating part of its digital division, known as Barca Media, on Nasdaq. Barca Media controls the clubâs video, social, and e-sports activities, and around 20% of its shares are set to be offered to investors.
The club hopes that the sale will not only free up extra funds for the transfer market but also allow U.S.-based investors to get closer to the club and offer their media expertise that will help grow the clubâs business.
â There is a new sport taking over the internet: Chess. Yes, you read that right.
The biggest chess creator alone has more than 1 billion views this year. More than the NBA!
Chess.com crossed 100 million members.
Crazy fact: they added more members in the past 18 months than in the 13 years before.
The most popular social media post in 2022 featured a chess game: Lionel Messi vs Cristiano Ronaldo.
So we had to look into it. For our latest video, we spoke to the internetâs chess teacher GothamChess about the incredible rise of chess.
What we found was a surprisingly insightful case study about the business of sports:
đ Sports Business Bites
Transfer Market Round-up
We are edging towards a month of the summer transfer market being open and we thought we would provide a quick breakdown of the main events.
The biggest spending league should come as no surprise. The Premier league is already getting close to a billion euros and we still have several weeks left. Last summer, Premier League clubs spent just over âŹ2.2 billion.
The biggest surprise will be the inclusion of the Saudi Pro League in this top 10. Last season they spent just âŹ37m in total. The Saudi league has started a transfer spree, snapping up talent across Europe, and they are only just getting started.
This Saudi transfer splurge is also seen when looking at the top clubs. Al-Hilal and Ittihad are both spending more than many of the established European elite.Â
One of their main shops this season has been Chelsea. Several unwanted stars have made the trip to Saudi Arabia, something that has topped up Chelseaâs balance nicely.Â
Please note that the arrivals and departures columns include loan players coming back to their parent clubs and leaving loan clubs.Â
The biggest deal so far this window is probably also the best deal (for the selling club at least.)Â
Jude Bellingham has joined Real Madrid for a huge âŹ103M fee. Thatâs an impressive return for Borussia Dortmund which signed Bellingham for just âŹ30m about three years ago.Â
We should note that there are several reportedly closed deals that have yet to be confirmed. This includes the suggested âŹ120m transfer of Declan Rice from West Ham to Arsenal.
đ§đˇ Jay Zâs Roc Nation Sports Expands to Brazil
Roc Nation Sports, which forms part of American Rapper Jay Zâs wider talent agency, has just acquired the Brazilian company that represents over 100 hundred footballers including Vincius jr and Gabriel Martinelli.Â
Roc Nation believes it has spotted an opportunity within the Brazilian football market. The agency has suggested that the culture within Brazilian football is for agents to quickly locate and export local talent without taking time to develop a career plan or build a personal brand. Roc Nation plans to work closely with the best Brazilian talent and develop them on and off the pitch before considering their next move.
This expansion to Brazil is also set to offer opportunities for exposure in the Brazilian market to Roc Nationâs current footballing talent, which includes Romelu Lukaku and Kevin de Bruyne.
𼤠Coca-Cola Plans to Help Grow Football in the U.S.Â
The U.S. Soccer Federation and Coca-Cola have just announced a lucrative long-term partnership that both sides claim will expand the reach of football in the U.S.Â
Coca-Colaâs strategy seems to have two areas:
Grow participation in football - by organizing events for younger players.
Increase hype - with a social media campaign highlighting the best moments from the history of the national teams.
If you are wondering what Coca-Cola gets out of this deal check out our recent video on the topic.
đ The Boot Room
đ Nike is the Worldâs Most Powerful Sportswear BrandÂ
According to a new report by SporsLens, Nikeâs âMedia Impact Valueâ is more than that of Adidas and New Balance combined. For those wondering what âMedia Impact Valueâ is, SportsLens describes it as âthe impact of all media placements and mentions in the fashion, lifestyle, and beauty industries.â
Nikeâs incredible levels of exposure within the industry can be traced to its elite roster of athletes, which includes Cristiano Ronaldo, Rafael Nadal, Lebron James, and Tiger Woods.
This comes after a mixed year for Nike financially, where sales were up but profits were down.
đ¨đł đ The Chinese footwear brand that has big plans for the NBA
67% of the players in the NBA wear Nike shoes, while another 11% wear Adidas. Soon, these two major players could face some competition from China. Anta has plans to expand into the American market and it has a very controversial partner.
Anta has been sponsoring some lower-level NBA stars for a while, including Klay Thompson, Gordon Hayward, and Alex Caruso. Thompson has actually been a huge success for Anta with his signature line recently selling more than 650k pairs in China.
Now Anta is teaming up with Kyrie Irving, the controversial NBA star that was recently dumped by Nike for anti-semitic remarks. Irving is also set to become Chief Creative Officer. Maybe Anta should ask Adidas what happens when you hire antisemitic creative directors. Not all PR is good PR.
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