The Hidden Reason Behind Piqué's Retirement
Plus, are influencers replacing athletes? A Real Madrid theme park? And, a horse walked into a bar...
Welcome to Athletic Interest. We will talk about Gerard Piqué’s retirement in a bit, but first this:
“It's better to look good and be in the top 20 than to not look that good and be No. 1."
That is supposedly how Adidas summed up their athlete brand strategy during a contract negotiation with Romanian tennis player Sorana Cristea.
"When you are in the top 20 you are seen anyway, you are there at every tournament, and they were telling me it's better to be beautiful in top 10, top 20 than less beautiful and No. 1.” explained Cristea on the Romanian podcast ‘La Fileu.’
While the delivery may have been a little indelicate, Adidas executives are making a reference to a recent development.
With the rise of social media, great sporting performance no longer guarantees a sponsorship deal. Other factors like looks and the number of followers become more and more important.
Some even argue that creators are the new athletes. But are they really?
It’s a typical debate among brand managers at major sports companies like Nike or Red Bull: spend your budget on new-gen influencers or performance-driven athletes?
If you’ve been following Athletic Interest, you probably guessed already that we have an opinion on a random sports marketing question like that ;-). So here’s our video about it:
🍎 Sports Business Bites
🇪🇸 Gerard Piqué has just announced his retirement from football. The odd timing of this announcement - being in the middle of the football season - has resulted in some speculation among fans as to his true motivations.
There are currently two theories:
He is being used as Barcelona’s newest financial lever
He wants to avoid the ‘anti-Piqué’ law.
The first one is simple. Piqué’s retirement will significantly reduce Barcelona’s wage bill right before the crucial January transfer window. Couple that with the €40m in deferred wages that Piqué has graciously decided to give up, and Barcelona will easily be able to cover the losses of their Champions League failure while simultaneously investing in new players.
What does Piqué gain from this arrangement? There are reports that he plans to run for the Barcelona presidency in the future, and this ‘selfless’ act to save Barcelona’s finances could earn him a few votes from the socios.
It already looks like Piqué is getting some training for the big job, having become President of LaLiga 2 side FC Andorra when he purchased the club in 2018.
The second theory relates to a law - known as the ‘Anti-Piqué’ clause - that entered into force on the same day as Piqué’s retirement announcement. This clause will prohibit any active player from having commercial links to a competition they play in.
In 2019, it was revealed that Piqué made €24 million by helping broker a deal between Saudi Arabia and the Spanish FA to move the Spanish Super Cup to the Middle East.
While this previous business will not be investigated under this law, there are suggestions that Piqué has plans to do more business deals with the Spanish FA and LaLiga which would be illegal if he remained a Barcelona player.
🤝 From Lebron and Liverpool to CR7 and hair transplants, we have made a habit of tracking how athletes operate in the business world. It, therefore, caught our eye when the company TMRW Sports announced an entire roster of big-name athletes as initial investors.
It’s not entirely clear what product or service TMRW Sports will supply, but the company (founded by golfers Rory Mcilroy and Tiger Woods) has stated that its mission involves “Harnessing technology to build progressive approaches in sports, media, and entertainment.”
Beyond this vague statement, the company has already announced its first project - the TGL golf league.
TGL is said to be a ‘tech-infused’ golf event that marries competitive golf with virtual technology.
Current details suggest that golfers will compete in groups of three in a league system, playing 18 holes in just two hours. The league already has the backing of the PGA and golfers are set to tee off in purpose-built virtual golf arenas, complete with big screens and bright lights, at some point in 2024.
As of the moment, the only golfers confirmed are Rory Mcilroy and Tiger Woods.
🎢 Talking of crazy venues. There are reports that Florentino Perez wanted to build a Real Madrid theme park, complete with a Zinedine Zidane rollercoaster.
The project, named RealMadridLand, was set into motion during the 2017-18 season with Perez reportedly meeting with Disney executives to discuss the plans.
These revelations come from the new book 'Messi vs Ronaldo', by Jonathan Clegg and Joshua Robinson.
The authors claim that Perez was looking for new ways to increase Real Madrid’s revenues to keep up with the likes of Man City and PSG.
The plans were only shelved when the estimates placed the full cost at over €2 billion and concerns were raised over the security of the Real Madrid training complex, which was set to be built in the middle of the park.
☀️ Barack Obama is reportedly part of a group interested in buying NBA side the Phoenix Suns.
Obama is unlikely to be the majority owner and would team up with other rich investors, probably serving as the face of the group if they make a bid.
This interest comes after the current owner of the Suns, Robert Saver, decided to put the side up for sale in response to growing pressure from advertisers and fans.
More specifically, Paypal and Verizon threatened to cut ties with the Suns after the NBA handed Sarver a one-year ban and a $10 million fine for racism, sexism, and bullying.
📹 We end today’s newsletter with some social media madness.
A horse walked into a bar…
It sounds like the start of a terrible joke, but it actually happened!
Recent winner of the U.S. Grand National, Harwick, was taken to his local pub in Ireland by trainer Shark Hanlon. The champion racehorse was even given a pint of Guinness, although it doesn’t appear that he enjoyed it.
Harwick and his trainer have every reason to celebrate, with the horse having recently taken home more than €250k in prize money across three races.